76.2cm X 45.72cm oil painting, taken by buyer but never paid (he was shot by his brother)
This wave looks quite solid and frozen in time. It is just a moment that stopped to take a few breaths in the present. As an artist I took the liberty to freeze that instant, but eventually this moment will also turn to dust.
To make this painting, I played with the colours of coolness and peace, placing delicate little bubbles all over, ready to pop and disappear in just a fraction of time.
I have continued making quite a few paintings with waves throughout my career as a painter. I am very attached to water and can keep staring for hours at the way it changes every second. I am fascinated and hypnotised when I look at water and the way it flows. Sometimes I remember a beautiful eulogy that the poet Keats had asked to be engraved on his tombstone, “Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water,” 24 February 1821.
Three different types of my paintings were shown at the Delhi Flying Club exhibition of 2010. One type of painting was done only in oil paint. Another was made in a combination of oil and acrylic paints, while the last set was painted only in acrylic. Later when I started using more acrylic paints in my work, I realized it was more expressive to use that to paint water. Oil paint has a very solid creamy feel to it, it is thick and smooth and appears less fluid to capture the reflections seen in water than acrylic.
My mother, who is a tapestry weaver, really liked this painting. She made a beautiful tapestry based on it that is just the same size as the original. It is included here.