Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Artist Silpi and the rules of divine art

Kalasamharamurthy-Thirukkadavur

I stared at another work of this great artist, a form of Shiva, dancing within his chamber, that brings alive the heavens. The definition of paradise has been described in riches with flowers and fragrance, lit up with fiery lamps housing the very lord within it.

To decorate the heavenly abode of the Lord on earth within the temple is one thing, to create the same vision through the mind's eye with devotion is yet another. This is not about proportion or color of hue or form as much as it is about the power to create the vision of the Lord by hand into paper, meticulously capturing every detail without even an inkling of personal imagination mingled with that displayed in reality as per the defined rules of Shilpa Shastra and Samudrika Lakshana.

The Vishnudharmottara describes the methodology of painting, the power to create and imagine and yet remain within the realm of the canons of divine art that describe the true essence of a deity. Artist Silpi, maybe unknown, but he displays such devotion, that is beyond words and leaves us really awe struck, with that "something" in his paintings that we ourselves really don't know how to explain.

When we see the paintings of this artist, there is a sublime sense of awe, there is a sense of emotion that render us wondering whether such power is pure skill and talent or much much more than that. Artist Silpi, follows the canons of art, as well as those described in the Vishnudharmottara that define the rules of divine painting as put down by Sage Agastya himself.

Sage Agastya displeased with the performance of the apsaras in Indra's court, described in mango juice, the form of Urvashi, the epitome of beauty and grace in dance and gave her life to perform at the court. Such was the potency then that her beauty and grace was appreciated by all.

The same appreciation, if it comes from all quarters, be it a perfectionist looking for divinity and grace, or a connoisseurs looking for hue and color, or a lady admiring the jewelery or a layman appreciating the glamor; the painting has achieved its divine status.

This form of Shiva, captured by the artist, indicates clearly that he surpassed every qualification of a divine artist, not just in mere brush strokes, but in his deep devotion for the Lord as well as his immense love for Paramnacharya Chandrasekhar Swamigal.

He is an example of one who attained Nirvana, in his meditation of 40 days, every time he picked up his tools to create divinity in a different form. When we see his paintings of divinity, we are touched by his devotion, by the power of the deity captured in his canvas, by the grace of the Lord living and awakening us to their presence every time we set eyes on them.

This artist is a miracle to us, an example of developing and reproducing beauty through the mind power to create and give life, and not just a painter who got the picture right!

Artist Silpi, is not just another painter, and as I rediscover the secrets behind this great artist, I witness the very grace of divinity dance in my mind.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Exhilarating painting.......
I would like to know how can we Silpi's paintings (in Calendar).....Where are these calendars sold ?? Any pointers..????

Anonymous said...

Exhilarating !!!!!
Any poniters to where we can get the Calenadars (that has Silpis works)....???????

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Hi

Please send me your details and i can help you further on the calendar. Let me know if you wish to order a calendar.

Regds

Unknown said...

this is an excellant work. Both the pictures & informations r really useful. but the pictures r too small so that we r missing some minute details. if u provide some high quality pictures means we would be grateful to you. thanks in advance.

Unknown said...

I am very happy to see the works of Silpi on the net. A few years back I searched for Silpi and barely found any references and thought of creating a site myself (which obviously did not work out!). Kudos to you for shedding more light on this great artist's work.

Anonymous said...

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE CAN SE AND ACCESS THE ORIGINAL WORKS OF SILPI.

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Yes

you can place a request and I can act upon it, since I am in direct touch with the Silpi family.

Conditions are:
1) paintings can be shipped only within India
2) Payment needs to be made before shipping.
3) Your contact details

Regarsd
Kavitha

Anonymous said...

hello,recently i came across the wonderful art work by silpi.they are simply great...( these are mere words ..thaz all in front of the great art,talent of silpi).im interested to get a few prints of silpi.in particular i need art work of venkateshwara of tirumala.kindly let me know how can i get it.should i order?or who are the concerned people?and how much it might cost?
my mailid; ramraog2k@yahoo.co.in

Anonymous said...

hello,recently i came across the wonderful art work by silpi.they are simply great...( these are mere words ..thaz all in front of the great art,talent of silpi).im interested to get a few prints of silpi.in particular i need art work of venkateshwara of tirumala.kindly let me know how can i get it.should i order?or who are the concerned people?and how much it might cost?
my mailid; ramraog2k@yahoo.co.in

Anonymous said...

hello,recently i came across the wonderful art work by silpi.they are simply great...( these are mere words ..thaz all in front of the great art,talent of silpi).im interested to get a few prints of silpi.in particular i need art work of venkateshwara of tirumala.kindly let me know how can i get it.should i order?or who are the concerned people?and how much it might cost?
my mailid; ramraog2k@yahoo.co.in

Unknown said...

I want artist Silpi's paintings. Of course all of them if available in digital format. How can I get it. Should I buy them or they are available on net. My email ID is aimsureiyer@gmail.com

Thanks.

G. Viswanathan Iyer

Unknown said...

They are surely not available online nor are they available in a digital format. Your best bet would be to get in touch with Kavitha (the blogger). If i am not wrong there is no way as you will find out that you can source more than a couple of prints.

Kind Regards,
Venkatesh Shankar

Unknown said...

Thanks Venkatesh. I understand that, we are not privileged to avail our divine ancestors' creations. Silpi's creations are like water,air,land,sky and fire, essential and for those who are spiritually inclined. They must be common for all. Owning the rights for Silpi's creations by an individual is ok. But, I don't prefer involving commerce by ordering for the master's strokes. Regards. Visu.

Unknown said...

Dear Kavitha,

your work is reallyv nice.

I need to buy some of Artist Silpi's works.

can you please provide details about that.

Thanks in advance.

Druv said...

Absolutely beautiful work of art...!

Thanks for sharing them!

om namah shivaya

G.Varadarajan said...

Being intetested in drawing..I admired Great Artist Sri Silpi 's arts in Vikadan Diwali Malar those days 1956 onwards. He gave us the image as if we physically thete b4 the temple or deities!