Experimental single strokes

Sixty-three-year old George Fernandez’s paintings sport a feather-like softness, much like him. The five-day painting exhibition Peony that began at Kozhikode Art Gallery on Saturday, has on display George's works done using Chinese brush painting techniques.

“No sketching is done as it is mostly executed on paper and canvas. I experimented on acrylic. Less paint and more water is the slogan of Chinese brush painting techniques,” he says.

Once brush has been put on paper, no correction is possible and many works are completed in a single stroke. As more water is being used, soft subjects are preferred; all the 40 exhibits make it evident. The paintings depict birds, a hanging grape, rabbit, so on. Interestingly, he learned of the art through reading, but tweaked it a bit by replacing the expensive long Chinese brush with Indian brush on acrylic. Birds are his favourite subjects as they are the inmates at his garden house in Thiruvananthapuram.

This is the 18th solo art show of this former English teacher, but George’s first love is not painting, but craft. He had made umpteen craft works using multi-colour paper. “I always experiment and come up with something new. In 2014, I held an exhibition RAW n Thiruvananthapuram where I displayed art works done using the paint I had made from various leaves and sand. Last January, through the exhibition Aum, I attempted to portray meditation on canvas.”

He also imparts painting and craft classes at his home. The sexagenarian, however, can’t work on a schedule or deadline; he completely goes by his intuition.