One day in November, 1984 Murli was cleaning his lamp. While doing so he saw the hole inside the lamp blocked by Soot (a powder that is produced by burning the lamp).
He took a small stick to remove the soot, but oops! The fine powder blew away and scattered on the floor. Murli, quickly grabbed a paper from his sketchbook trying to clean the floor.
The moment he was about to trash it he noticed beautiful white and black tones on the paper.
EUREKA! Murli found a unique medium for his paintings which changed his life forever!
Today, Murali is a celebrated wildlife photographer and painter, better known as M. D. Parashar (Murli Dhar Parashar) who has won hearts of many with his soot tiger paintings.
Wait till you read this.
M. D. Parashar’s art is on display at The White House, USA! More so at the residence of India’s President, Prime Minister, Rajasthan’s Chief Minister and Punjab’s Chief Minister.
Some huge business houses have too adorned their workspaces with his paintings such as – Reliance Group, ESSO Petroleum Co. and WWF India, Taj and Oberoi Hotels amongst others.
Well, today it is his birthday – 8th July, 1961 and this post is a small tribute from Apna Art Adda to this inspiring artist.
Born and brought up in Rajasthan’s Ranthambore area, he graduated from the Rajasthan School of Art. He is often considered as Ranthambore’s first son.
Other than his genius, his popularity comes more from the sense of pride he has kindled in the hearts of Ranthambore’s people.
His upbringing happened in a town that flanked the Ranthambore National park. That’s why you see a lot of influence on the subject and medium he has chosen.
His passion for his birthplace, its inhabitants, and the wildlife inspired him to establish Ranthambore School of Art and Wildlife Conservation Society.
Most of the Ranthambore receives vocational training from this school and provides them livelihood.
The word ‘fee’ is taboo to all the 400 art students trained here every year.
Despite being honed under the greatest art scholars, he has managed to keep himself and his art grounded, modest, and genuine.
Interestingly, Parashar uses only soot or lampblack and a newspaper as a nib to create stunning artworks of his preferred subject – The Tiger!
For a place where his people lack easy access to sophisticated art supplies, his style of using a medium from daily use objects come as a blessing.
I am so delighted to share that Apna Art Adda has upgraded itself and has got a new look too. All thanks to your love and support.
Here’s the new link to Apna Art Adda blog.
Hope to see you there!
Apna Art Adda 