This is a coffee portrait painting. This based on Ravi Varma painting. I worked with Artist Uma during my holidays to hone my coffee painting skills.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Previous Painting:

Aha Moment 59 – There is more to life than increasing its speed! – Gandhi

From The Aha Moment of the Week

All my paintings can be found here.

My latest painting using coffee on canvas.

Aha Moment 59 – There is more to life than increasing its speed! – Gandhi

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Previous Painting: Anguli Chaap – In search of my identity

From The Aha Moment of the Week

All my paintings can be found here.

Here is my latest art work using Coffee. Idea Source: Craft work by Rashmi Sulakhe.

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Previous Art work: Aum Skandagrajaya Namah

From The Aha Moment of the Week

All my art works can be seen here:

Coffee With Sundar successfully completes 4 years today! Along the way, it has met many people who personified passion and purpose.. Today is no different. Please join me to welcome Mr. Srinivas, founder of Chroma Academy. The Chroma Academy began its activities in the year 2000 with the aim of being a nodal centre for promotion, development and training of motivated individuals who are keen to sustain and enrich our heritage. For more details, visit The Chroma Academy – http://www.thechromaacademy.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5xp_SbM040&feature=share

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
KS: K Srinvas, Founder of The Chroma Academy

Me: Hello Sir, Can you talk about yourself, your background and your introduction to art.. When did you start your journey with art etc?

KS: Dear Mr. Sundar, It is a great pleasure to find the interest you have expressed in our art forms and in the Chroma Academy’s activities. To start with about me and my background.

Our family has long since been involved in the fine arts for quite some generations. We have records in our family archives which speak of our ancestors who were involved in the visual arts for at least five generations! We originally belong to Andhra Pradesh. We settled in the city of Chennai at least 100 years ago. Our forefathers were poets and littérateurs. My maternal grandfather, the late Mr. Mylavarapu Suryanarayana Murthy was a poet of repute in Andhra Pradesh. He translated the works of Poet Tulsidas and Poet Surdas into Telugu classics. My paternal grandfather Late Mr. Krothapally Subrahmanyam was a painter (later, was attached with US Consulate General’s office in Chennai as an artist & designer). My father was an airline official and my only brother is a Chartered Accountant
working in Perth, Australia at present.

I have been into some art form or other ever since I remember. By and large I am a self-taught artist. During early years, I have had a brief stint in the Kalakshetra College of Fine Arts, Chennai, as a casual student and I was one among the very few to have benefited from the guidance of Late Prof. Adyar K. Sreenivasulu and Late Prof. S. Dhanpal. Both of them held high positions in the National Academy for Arts (LKA). Mr. Adyar K. Sreenivasulu was a highly skilled figurative painter who was projecting Indian traditional and folk art forms into the contemporary idiom. Mr. S.Dhanapal was a renowned sculptor and a keen advocate of modern art and I am one of his students who gained allegiance to the modernity through him.

Shortly after this I joined a famous Craft NGO, aided by the Ford foundation and Commonwealth as an in-house artist. I was also taking a keen interest in their craft awareness camps and their revival programs. Though I left this institution my love for the arts and craft tradition remained secure and out of self interest I started interacting with various artists, crafts persons and basic workers. Thus started my journey into art….!

Me: Who were your role models and teachers? Can you share some experiences? Some are of the view that art has to be explored from within rather than learnt from a teacher. What is your view on this?

KS: I can’t think of anybody as my role models, but I have great respect for Picasso, Marc Chagall, Dr. Annada Coomaraswamy (indophile), Gillian Ayres (British abstract painter), and M.F. Hussain in the field of art. Every time I watch the movie “The mystery of Picasso” a full length movie which contains rare footages of Picasso working on a canvas, I become ecstatic. I have great admiration for Buddhist sculptures of Amaravati and Pallava sculptures to name a few.

Learning art from a teacher is a worthy exercise-don’t have to waste your precious time going through years of trial and error. The guidance and the first hand experience in watching a teacher work on his canvas, goes a long way in enhancing one’s inert talents.

Me: When did you start the Chroma Academy? What is the objective of the organization? How many people are involved currently?

KS: I have been teaching art, working in the areas of craft development and heritage since 1995.

The Chroma academy began its activities in the year 2000 with the aim of training interested individuals in fine arts. We have trained many school children, hobbyists, designers and media professionals. Currently, we are focusing our activities on imparting training to adults from various backgrounds. Several talented people who are underprivileged were also given training free of cost.

Documenting visual material, techniques pertaining to ancient crafts and support activities to the aged or ailing craftsmen are a few of our pet projects. I am a person who prefers to have my individual spirit and independent thoughts go into my art rather cater to or succumb to commercial art. So we, at The Chroma Academy, do not generally liaise with others or seek funds from any agency. However, voluntary contributions from our close associates help our support activities to some extent.

All activities of The Chroma Academy are conducted by me personally. The projects involving traditional arts skills are outsourced to the authentic artisans. Few dedicated volunteers also help us in our activities.

Me: How did your interest in Kalamkari start? What is Kalamkari all about? Can you speak about the recent initiatives you are taking for the art form?

KS: Even during my college days, I used to interact with several artisans in their work, marketing and social conditions. During such time, I had the opportunity to work with the artists of Kalamkari, mat weavers of Pattamadai, soft stone turners of Tamil Nadu, wood turners of Ettikopaka(AP), and few other artisans. Kalahasti
is the center for Kalamkari. My focus shifted to Kalamkari. I got three or four artisans to work for me and came to know about their methods. There are many artisans who are traditionally bound. I found that they have no way to meet their ends. We @ The Chroma hope to find them better and more clients. Workshops are being conducted and more than 100 people have benefited so far. We also take the role of consultants for Kalamkari regarding classes and products Eg. A client from London wanted to know about his grandfather’s purchase from South India in Kalamkari. Information along with designs for the students can be sent on request online. We have been actively associated in promoting Ramayana in multimedia. The great epic was done in Kalamkari style and tagged with our help. The multimedia CD ROM has been promoted by www.viotrix.com.

For this blog users who are interested in our country’s ancient art, I have put down here a short introduction about Kalamkari (which is also one of the slowly dying ancient arts). I hope this will enable the users to get a bird’s eye view of Kalamkari.

The pdf guide can be found here - http://coffeewithsundar.com/Kalamkari%20ebook.pdf

Ancient Kalamkaries were used as the backcloths in temples, decorations in temple-cars and were typically used in rituals. In those days, India was famous for dying with indigenous colours obtained from the roots, barks and flowers of the trees. Kalamkari literally means pen craft (kalam in Persian means pen).This craft was in vogue in many parts of South India, all along the Coromandal coast and presently it is confined only to Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam, both in Andhra Pradesh. The subjects are mainly drawn from the great epics of Ramayana, Mahabharatha, and Bhagavatha. These celebrated creations which were both the works of arts and utilitarian pieces are now relegated to the status of mere mass made handicrafts /souvenirs. In spite of efforts from numerous agencies, Kalamkari still remains in a decaying state. As an artist who has a firsthand experience and having worked with many artisans in Kalamkari, I can say that this is the blatant truth.

Me: Do you see much interest among students to learn such traditional art forms? Or are the students keener on learning something more contemporary and recent?

KS: Both students and parents these days want immediate and quicker results, be it traditional or contemporary art. They shun any art which requires hours of concentration. In doing so, they switch over from one form of art to another. This is the current scenario with regard to fine arts. But getting to know the traditional art forms will only enhance one’s capacity in contemporary art. Acquiring in-depth knowledge is required for the students to shine in any field. Obviously modern and contemporary art has wider applications. For those who want to learn traditional
arts or crafts, I would advise them to learn from the artists who have firsthand experience in that particular art or craft. Do not patronize amateurs or commercial establishments. You can research on the internet about these arts and crafts; join the dedicated blogs projecting them. During British occupation a large number of art and cultural objects were acquired by the museums. So visit museums often and make a study.

Me: Do you see the trend that children today are keener on video games and Nintendo’s instead of pursuing art as a hobby? How do you inspire students to study art?

KS: Yes, you are right Mr. Sundar!

These video games and Nintendo’s can really retard a child’s creative instincts of the brain and their tactile skills. However coaching kids with basics of computer and using it to make art can be engrossing .These skills can also aid them in their professional careers. Children in general are motivated, and “born artists”. With little patience, efficient art tutors can make them inspired easily. The problem for any art educator would be the parents of these children who are mostly ignorant or insensitive towards art. Many art teachers here are semi-skilled and semi-literates. The school managements’ themselves are not sufficiently informed about the academic training of art or about the modern trends. Also it is distressing to see many itinerant traders in the name of international franchises setting up art centers in many places with the only aim of making quick money. Parents and students
should enquire in detail before enrolling into any art school.

Me: One last question. Can you provide some tips to encourage art/creativity development for children…

KS: Sure.

• Use magnets to proudly display your children’s drawing on the refrigerator door where all can see it

• Do not worry if you cannot figure it out. Its beauty may reside in your child’s use of colours, lines and shapes. Do not ask, “what is it?”. Consider it a design. Encourage your child to discuss it if he or she chooses.

• Your child would probably enjoy doing art at home. Art supplies make good gifts. Keep a small box filled with the following:

• Scissors, glue, paste, tape, crayons, markers, ruler, stapler, water colour set, clay or play dough and paper in variety of sizes, shapes, colours and textures.

• Your child will also enjoy doing art with you, Enjoy Art together!

(Extract from the book: Art and Creative Development for Young Children by
Robert Schirrmacher)

Hope you find my answer succinct; please note that I have expressed my views on children only in Indian context!

Me: Thank you very much sir. I really appreciate your time & effort. On behalf of all CWS readers, best wishes to yourself & The Chroma Academy.

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Sundar! Thank you very much for all the support!

Previous Interview: Bhaskar, Easy Blood
Previous Art Work: Skandagraja

All interviews can be found here - Coffee With Experts.

Coffee With Sundar completes 4 years today and is continuing to search for Indian role models into the 5 th year! Thanks for all the support!

Happy birthday Coffee With Sundar!

Image Source: http://www.zazzle.com

Ganesha with Finger prints and poster colours (on canvas)

Aum Skandagrajaya Namah
Salutation to Skanda’s elder brother

From The Aha Moment of the Week

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
BH: Bhaskar, Founder – Easyblood

Me: Hello Bhaskar, Welcome to the show on Coffee With Sundar. What is easyblood organization all about? What is it trying to achieve?

BH: www.easyblood.info was started to provide a common platform for blood donors and receivers to connect directly with each other. The website provides a platform to locate voluntary blood donors for any given blood group in more than 2500 cities of India.It aims to ease the process of searching for a blood donor in times of an emergency by providing a direct link to matching and interested donors across the country.

Me: What was your motivation for starting the same? Who is the other co-founder.. what are your backgrounds?

BH: The founding members are:
a) Bhaskar Chaudhary
b) Souvik Saha

Souvik Saha was last working as the Jharkhand head for Cholamandalam. MS General Insurance Co. ltd before he resigned in may 2009 to start an NGO called People for Change(www.peopleforchange.in) along with me. Souvik is a post graduate in accounts.

I am Bhaskar Chaudhary, an ex banker and was heading Jharkhand and Bihar SME division for HDFC , before I too quit his job in June 2009 to start People for Change with Souvik. I am an MBA in finance. While on our travels across the country with regards our work at People for Change we came across some startling facts about blood donation in India. We did a bit of research ourselves and arrived at the following facts;

a) Round 7 accident victims die every hour for need of blood.
b) India leads the world in blood trafficking trade
c) 40% of illegal trafficked blood is sourced from children
d) 30% of blood transfused in India is adulterated
e) Every 2 seconds , someone in India needs blood.
f) 77,000 Indian women die during child birth, for need of blood.
g) Need for blood will increase 5% each year.
h) While 8% of population in U.S.A donate at least once a year, it is
a meager 3% for India.
All this could be solved if Indians began to donate voluntarily.

India has round 14 crore internet users. Out of this, 12 crore users are above 18 years of age, which is the age eligibility to donate blood. If this user base is motivated to donate even once a year, it can address the blood shortfall of India. www.easyblood.info aims to target this user group to bridge the blood deficit.
Hence with this idea we started easyBLOOD.

The inspiration to start easyBLOOD was that we felt that though many of us are willing to donate we are unableto or not comfortable with the idea of going to some blood camp or a blood bank to donate regularly.

Me: How is easyblood different from other organizations which educate about blood donation..

BH: At easyBLOOD you just have to register to donate and only donate when contacted by a person in need of blood. Also the very fact that a donor can actually see whom he is donating to, adds a personal touch to the process and acts as an added incentive for a person to donate.

We are trying to address the shortfall of blood in India by motivating the internet user base to pledge to donate and ease the process of searching for a blood donor in times of an emergency by providing a direct link to matching and interested donors across the country.

Me: How many members have registered so far? who can request for help on the website?

BH: Facts about easyBLOOD;
a) Launched on 17th December, 2011
b) So far round 400 people have joined as members.
c) There have been 2 cases where receivers have used this site to find donors and receive blood.
d) 4 chapters started so far in Kharagpur, Hazaribagh, Mugma and Patratu.

Anyone residing in India can request for help from the website. All they would need to do is register on the site(free registration)

Me: Apart from the social benefit, what are the health benefit of donating blood?

BH: Reduce the chance of heart diseases

It has been observed that increase in blood iron level increases the chance of heart disease. Iron is involved in the oxidation of cholesterol and this process is believed to be detrimental for the arteries. Increases blood iron level favors this process of cholesterol oxidation and thus leads to heart disease. Regular blood donation helps especially males in loosing iron on regular basis. It helps in reducing the chance of heart attack to one third.

Lower Iron Levels

Lower the iron levels in your body every time you give blood, which can help reduce the risk of heart disease. According to CNN, high blood iron levels have the potential to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease because iron accelerates the oxidation process of cholesterol in the body, which damages arteries. Iron levels aren’t the only factor that plays a role in a person’s risk of heart disease, but there are certainly no downsides to lowering blood iron levels by donating blood regularly.

Reduces the risk of Cancer

Give blood to help lower your risk of cancer. According to the Miller-Keystone Blood Center, consistent blood donation is associated with lowered risks for cancers including liver, lung, colon, stomach and throat cancers. Risk levels dropped in correlation with how often participants donated blood.
Enhances the production of new Red Blood Cells

As the blood is withdrawn from the donors body there is decrease inblood cells. To replenish it, immediately new cells are produced by marrow andthis way blood gets refreshed. Therefore donating blood helps in stimulating generationof new blood cells.

Helps in fighting Hemochromitosis

Hemochromitosis is a genetic disorder; also know as iron overload disorder wherein iron accumulates in the body tissue because or improper iron metabolism. This condition may lead to organ damage.Though this problem is uncommon in Indians, people with little iron overload also can easily donation blood and reduce their iron content. Taking example from other countries, one in every 300-400 people in England suffers from this disorder and American Red Cross blood services accept such donors as safe donor as it’s a genetic disorder, it won’t be harmful to the person receiving blood from such donors.

Burns calories

One can diet or remain fit by donating blood regularly. One pint of blood (450 ml) when donated burns 650 calories in donor’s body.

Basic blood test is done

Apart from all these benefits a donor gets a mini blood test done before donating blood. This includes Hematocrit i.e. HB level test, Blood pressure is measured, body weight is checked. After the blood is collected it tested for 5 major diseases. Those are Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, Syphilis and malaria. Donor is immediately informed if any of these test found to be positive

Me: What are the challenges you are currently facing in spreading the message about blood donation?

BH: The biggest challenge that we are currently facing is making people aware of the importance of donating and how they can use www.easyblood.info to either donate blood or search for a matching donor across 2500 cities in India.
Publicising the site for deeper penetration has been a major problem

Me: What is your message for Indian youth. Anything else you would like to add?

BH: The young in India need to understand that blood cannot be manufactured and is available only by donation.Also voluntary blood donation can be a major tool to stop the illegal blood trafficking trade in India.
The youth in India can contribute in any of the following ways;
a) By registering themselves
b) By inviting their friends to register
c) Opening a local chapter of easyBLOOD (people interested in starting a local chapter can write to us at support@easyblood.info)

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Experts.

Previous Interview: Aishwarya, India Nuance
Previous Art Work: Ganeshvara

This is my first attempt at using coffee powder as paint.

Aum Ganeshvaraya Namah
Salutation to the lord of categories

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Previous painting can be seen below.

Aum Gauriputraya Namah
Salutation to the son of Gauri

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Salutation to the son of Gauri

From The Aha Moment of the Week

Medium: Canvas
Paint: Acrylic
Idea: UK design studio

Previous Art work – Aum Vighnarajaya Namah – Salutation to the ruler of obstacles

From The Aha Moment of the Week

All my arts work can be found here.

Welcome to the show on Coffee With Experts! Today we have a young Indian entrepreneur who decided to take the road less travelled in chasing her dreams in the music industry. Aishwarya, started India Nuance – an artist management firm with a focus on Indian classical music. Her start up in the field of art & music has caught the attention of many and has recently been awarded British Young Entrepreneurship Award. Please join me in welcoming Aishwarya, our next Indian role model on Coffee With Sundar.

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
AI: Aishwarya, Founder India Nuance

Me: Hi Aishwarya, how are you doing? Can you speak about yourself.. your childhood.. your music interest etc..

AI: Sure. My family has always been into music. Mother is an AIR artist. Grand mother, aunt, cousins are all into carnatic music. We are delhi based family, where the usual atmosphere is music. My grand father is also very interested and involved in making veena. Father plays morching. So all in all, a complete musical family. I would find it odd if we didnt discuss music.. I have always been with music from a very young age..

I started my training from 3 years with my mother.. Ever since I have been learning. Only over the last year and half, I havent done much singing.. Since we were brought up in delhi, it wasnt very traditional always.. My brother plays a lot of instruments like Tabla, Mandalin.. mostly self taught.. Father would bring jazz, blues music etc. When we were in teens, it was the MTV scene.. I always grew up with music and was fed with music with diverse taste.. Even now my itunes are full with diverse music numbers.

Me: When and what triggered you to start India Nuance.. Please share the story.. How long have you been working on it..

AI: I wouldnt say it all happened by chance.. But I threw myself into it.. In 2009, I was married and relocated to Bombay.. I was working with Sa re ga ma, but I was disillusioned with music labels business. It was a declining field.. Physical format is not doing well.. Everything was viewed with a sales/profit vs content angle.. I was not doing what I wanted to do.. So I moved out..

I had about 5 years of experience.. started at the bottom of the run. While I was in Bombay, I was doing a bit of consulting, event management, putting a book together etc.. I looked out for other jobs.. Some of them were good which I would have probably done well as well.. But during my record label days, we to meet managers and artists.. But in classical music space, there were no managers.. they were mainly family of artists or the artists themselves who were managing the bookings. If you look at the pop music space, you will find a proper manager with a legal background dealing with you.. which wasnt the case in carnatic music. The likes of Hari prasad churasia, Shiv kumar sharma we were dealing with.. But where are their managers? There were thoughts which I had discussed with my colleagues while I was in my previous work.. But not in my wildest dream I thought that I would take the plunge then..

But the circumstances turned out to be different.. I was not convinced with other offers which I was receiving.. so I pushed myself into it.. At the end of the day, I was just 27 and I can always come back to main stream..

Initially I operated out of home.. Not much income.. hired a few interns.. no fancy office.. one it is difficult to find real estate in Bombay.. two, I wasnt too keen having a fancy office as well..

We had to choose a name.. I didnt want it to be just realted to music.. So we chose the name India Nuance. Two of us, my brother & I decided on this.. Then we had a designer, Krishna, who helped decide a logo and put up a basic website. This was up in April. Thus began our journey..

Me: So, how did it grow from there.. How did you win the British Young Entrepreneurship Award?

AI: We started off with Shashank.. I had his contact from the record label days..
The concept itself was new to the artist.. their main concern was was should we give up our right.

I was having credibility when I was a part of India today or Sa re ga ma.. But I had to build that for India Nuance.. I took some time to build it.. I was in no hurry to expand.. That was when British council award story happened..

I had known colleauges in the past who have won Young Creative Entrepreneur awards.. I got a call from them asking why dont you apply.. Winner gets to meet several music winners across the UK.. It would be a great opportunity to build relevant contacts in the industry.. I wasnt really ready yet.. But what was there to lose.. I told them that I dont have the necessary 2 – 2.5 years experience which was a criteria.. but they told just apply.. We got shortlisted based on the idea and concept.. We had an opportunity to present the case to the panel. Much to my surprise, I was given the award..

Everyone there was equally great if not more.. They were looking for something radical and different and India Nuance fits the bill.. It was a very encouraging and there was no looking from that.. We were in 5th gear after that.. We were written about every where.. British government promoted our works.. Aritsts were less interested, but organizations were getting more interested with British Council award.. The credibility angle was built.. We prepped up to go to UK..

Me: What is the perception of an artist manager in traditional field like Indian classical music? How do they respond?

AI: To be selected as an artist manager, they were still hesitant.. The artists are very conservative and still a long way to go.. In terms of artist management, there is a different meaning which the India understands.. In India, manager means a secretary..

For artists and vocalists, we would like to take care of the careers.. this would include tour design (internationally), what to perform, whom to collaborate with, help create new content, in new forms.. promote the artist as a whole package..

We do all the talking, they just have to come and perform.. Lot of managers dont necessarily understand the subject, they think it is another form of PR. It is different. Handling traditional artists requires one to understand the sensitivities.. One has to know the differences between kurta, veshti conservative musician to the guitar playing modern musician. We understand the artist and the business. Hence we are able to add value.

Me: What is the goal of India Nuance?

AI: Our vision and goal is to demystify the music and make it relevant to the younger audience. Current audience for music are in the age group 40 – 65. But we have a number of young artists such as Niladri Kumar, Shashank, who are sauvy musician.. Sanjay Subramanian for example is a CA, he can easily hang out with the youngsters.. We want to work with such artists who can connect with the younger audience. Ofcourse, it is not going to happen over night.. This would require time and effort from our side and from artist’s side..

Recently, there was international festival for sacred music. We had artists from Denmark, France etc.. But there were no Indians.. I wondered what was more sacred than our carnatic music.. We just have to package it correctly, identify what to say, how to present.. We help artists create an online presence.. through twitter, facebook, good functioning website which is very important..

Having said all these, we dont interefere with artist’s art.. At best we can suggest.. for example, a concert on “kabir” etc.. But what they sing, how they sing etc.. is upto the artist.. We do what we are good at and we leave the artist to do what they are good at.. This way the creativity of artist is not restricted.. if anything it is enhanced because they dont have to deal with day to day routine..

Me: Do you see much competition in this niche?

AI: In terms of competition.. clearly, we dont cover all the artists.. Some of them have people who work solely for them.. family members, students etc… But in terms of formal organizations, there are very few.. We are one among them..

Me: What challenges do you face in your day to day building of the business?

AI: Challenges are quite a few..

Artists themselves.. Classical music artists are ripped off for most times.. hence they are very skeptical about the whole thing.

Client organizations we speak with.. They ask us why should we speak to you and not directly to the artist.. They have a big ego trip at times..

Instrumental people, are always using artists for their personal benefit.. For example, the person might have helped the artist long back, based on that he would expect the artist to perform everywhere he recommends although artist himself might not be very interested..

Quite a few challenges to over come, but it is a long journey and we are progressing well.

Me: Did you feel like quitting at any point in your journey?

I didnt feel like quitting.. Quitting is a stong word.. I would say, stressed and tired.. as it is very consuming, all your time, mental and physical energies.. Given the amount of convincing, talking takes a toll on you.. But then when you hear music, you spring back to life..

Me: Thanks Aishwarya. What is your message for Indian Young?

AI: This might sound a bit of a cliche.. Lot of us of dream.. Even if there is an iota of practicality, it is never too late to give it a shot.. Try and fail is much better than just being thinking about it.. Money wont come on day 1.. there are going to be tough days.. but entrepreneurship is a greatest high you can give for yourself.. You are the boss of your life.. If you have an idea and you have thought it through, just go for it!

Me: Thanks Aishwarya! Good luck to you and to India Nuance.

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee With Experts! Stay tuned for more.

Previous Interview: Mehmood Khan, Former Global head of innovation at Unilever
New Year Post: Be a seeker! Happy 2012
Previous Art work: Ganesh Paintings