Senior IFS officer Sudha Ramen not only tries out new innovations in her work field but also in her art. The officer is an accomplished artist whose work with mandala and zentangle art have become quite popular among art lovers. The 2013-batch officer receives much adoration and appreciation from her followers and friends on social media. Recently, she published a calendar with her artworks where she introduced a fusion of mandala and zentangle. Needless to say, it was very well received by art lovers and invited a lot of good reviews.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Ramen talked about her special fusion style and her future plans in the world of art.
NEVER HAD FORMAL TRAINING
The ex-techie who worked with Wipro once is now serving as an officer in Tamil Nadu cadre. Art is her passion, her refuge. Working on any art makes her feel happy. However, she never had any formal training in art. Since childhood, she has been trying her hands on sketching, water colour and acrylic paintings. But her interest in mandala is not more than two years old.
“I used to do mehndi designs for my friends and family in my younger days. Mehndi design also consist of many repetitive patterns like mandala and zentangle. In recent times, when mandala art started becoming popular, I thought of trying it.”
While mandala is a repetitive pattern drawn mostly in circular or semi- circular form, the zentangle can be made on any kind of structure with patterns. Ms. Ramen work with both. Since she has years of experience in drawing, it wasn’t hard for her to pick up these artforms fast. Not only does she draw designs for herself, she has also decorated the walls of the houses of her relatives with her artworks.
“Drawing on wall is way difficult and challenging than drawing on a paper. One needs to have a vision of their work before they start. I am really happy to see that my works on the walls have come out well.”
The job of a forest officer is an exhausting one and on top of that, Ms. Ramen is mother to two kids, one a toddler. But she always manages to find time for her passion.
“No matter how tired I am, for 4-5 years now, I have made it a practice to give 2-3 hours to my drawing daily. My days always end with me drawing something. Things have changed a little because of the baby, but I hope to resume the normal routine soon because art is a stressbuster for me. Completing one drawing gives me immense satisfaction and happiness which is incomparable.”
CALENDAR WITH THE ARTWORKS
Ms. Ramen says that during her maternity leave she had ample time to give on art work. During that time, she shared some of her works on social media which got her tremendous response. Overwhelmed with all the appreciation she created a digital calendar with her Mandala painting and shared. Many people downloaded it and some of them even made the print out. “Seeing that, I thought of publishing that for my closed family and friends as a token of gesture. It wasn’t done on a large scale but in future you can expect some more things like that”.
EXPLORE THE OTHER FOLK PAINTINGS
Ms. Ramen is currently working on series showcasing different poses of Bharatnatyam style and mandala style art with Tamil alphabets to celebrate the rich culture of her home state. This is not the first time she is working on such a series. She started off with making mandala and zentangle on animal-based structure and then did a series on Buddha as well.
In future, she wants to learn and practice some of the folk arts like Madhubani, Tanjore and mural. “We are lucky to have such extensive folk arts. I would like to learn and practice some. Since I already have the sense of drawing and usage of colour, it wouldn’t be difficult to pick up any. Once I feel accomplished in Mandala and Zentnagle art, I will resume my skills in Tanjore. I had learnt Tanjore art but never had a time to work on it as it requires months to complete one work. I am hopeful that the future beholds good art works for me.”
