Time for some artistic escapades

Those with a penchant for art now have an alternative to the multitude of morning shows on TV to keep themselves busy.

ISLAMABAD: Housewives need not necessarily get bored in the mornings anymore. Those with a penchant for art now have an alternative to the multitude of morning shows on television to keep themselves busy.

Nahida Raza, owner of the Jharoka Art Gallery in sector F-8/1 and a veteran artist, is starting porcelain painting classes from October 1. Raza, who already offered such classes during summers recently, decided to take them to the next level- people will be able to enroll throughout the year now. She is pairing up with Fawzia Memon, an artist who received her art training from Paris and has exhibited her work in Karachi and Kuwait.

The classes include two separate styles of porcelain painting: European and Ethnic. The design and techniques taught will focus on decorative pottery, wall hangings and porcelain flowers. The class size, said Raza, has been restricted to a maximum of 10 students so that the teachers can give their students individual attention.

Such initiatives, believes Raza, act as a tool for housewives to employ their time productively. With a dearth of activities to do during the mornings, these classes provide a great way for them to utilize their free time effectively.

However the proprietor of Jharoka does not plan to stop here. She aims to expand her target audience and hopes to attract students and working professionals too. For this purpose she plans on offering more courses in the evenings on varied subjects, including pencil sketching and more advanced techniques such as oil painting. She will invite well-known artists to teach these classes with her.

“As an artist my motto has been to promote art and cultural activities in Islamabad,” Raza told The Express Tribune.

These three-month-long courses are designed to adapt to the needs of the students. Because there is no set schedule, students can focus on aspects of painting that they feel need the most attention. Raza has tried to keep the cost as low as possible and one can attend an art class at Jharoka for Rs5000 per month (Rs15000 for a 3-month course). Students will not have to shell out extra for raw materials as the fee is inclusive of all such expenses.

Raza, feeling a need for a place to promote art in Islamabad, opened Jharoka Art Gallery about three years ago. “It was a great time to open an art gallery because a lot of people were looking for art,” she said, adding, “Art has faced a lot of upheavals because of the prevailing economic situation, however when people living abroad come back, they love to have some Pakistani art pieces in their houses.”

The gallery now acts an outlet for budding and accomplished artists and recently evolved into a forum for dispensing art to those who want to hone their artistic skills.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th, 2010.