Contributor Diaries
A friend reflects on the work of her late artist friend
Late Milind Soman a self taught artist continues to inspire all through the art he has left behind
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Nature has mystical, beautiful ways of inspiring us all. Truer words cannot be said then, about how Milind was moved by a scenic display of a beautiful sunset over some hillocks on the drive back home from a business trip to Aurangabad, in the early 90’s.
It was a weekend morning the next day. He got hold of some basic paints at home and attempted to reproduce from memory, in a novice way, the sunset he had witnessed to be particularly enchanting in all its vibrant colours.
It was a revealing moment for him - that he wanted to paint his expressions, feelings about Mother Nature, to the best of his ability (that later grew by leaps and bounds).
Thus began his journey of painting, his unwavering promise to a beautiful Nature in all its glory.
Despite busy work schedules and pressures through the week, he grew into a dedicated painting hobbyist on the weekends, depicting scenes from nature, and seeking critique & corrections in his works from artist friends.
Later as he progressed in his art, he experimented with the pencil medium too, in addition to oil painting.
He also successfully tried varied techniques & treatment to the medium of oil paints itself. These constituted the ‘leap’ in his artistic endeavors, and by now, he had held many successful painting exhibitions.
He felt blessed to meet and be influenced by great artists, and that reflected in part, in his expressions on canvas.
From the humble, yet all-important start in painting of reproducing from a photograph, he had moved on to paint spectacular renditions of Nature, from his own imagination.
Although untrained in art - at least not formally - he achieved a great skill and grasp on the technique of oil painting as an art form.
His works are of varied nature-inspired themes & colour schemes, stressing on the Elements of Nature.
He showed through his large collection of emotive paintings, that Nature takes on unfathomable beauty, in myriad colours & forms, and that she (Nature) always has a surprise for us that sweeps us off our feet... each time, every time.
This feature has been written by a close friend of the family and an artist herself, Sharmila.
Milind Soman was a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications and took to painting as a Sunday hobby artist who did several group and solo shows of his work. His paintings have been bought by many renowned individuals and corporates in India, US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Netherlands. He passed away in August 2019. His wife Janaki has shared pictures of his paintings for all to enjoy and be inspired. You could reach out to her, at janakisoman@yahoo.com
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