Nandita Dasgupta is a self-taught artist. Nandita dabbles in painting, pencil sketches, creating designer pots, dry flower arrangements, baking and vegetable carving.

She does not sell any of her creations professionally. When friends or customers approach her online, she designs something for them.

“Art is something that should be done out of passion,” starts Nandita, who spends atleast “five to six hours a day” creating in her home, which doubles up as her studio.

Though she was always keen on art, she studied and took up a job in a government office. “I was unhappy as I could not pursue any of my hobbies due to my long working hours. I also realised that I was not cut out for a nine-to-five job.”

Nandita quit her job after marriage and found encouragement from her mother-in-law to pursue her hobbies more seriously. She started by working on her own home. Her paintings and sketches adorned her walls, while her pots were planted with pretty flowers leading up to her home and her vegetable carvings occupied a pride of place on her dining table when friends came in for dinner. “I don’t go buying particular pots or flowers to do up my home, but pick up whatever I find fallen on the ground,” she says and adds, “Dry flowers, leaves and branches, are cleaned, painted and given a makeover for my dry flower arrangements. When cups break and I am left with the saucers, I use them for my pots and plants.”

Pretty creations Nandita and some of her works   | Photo Credit: K MURALI KUMAR

She turns used kulfi pots into candles or as diyas. Soon, Nandita was invited to showcase her vegetable-carving skills. She does not make things with a commercial intent. “I post my pictures of work online. When I get requests, I create things on order. I, however, promote vegetable carving as women can use those skills in their homes or even take to it as a profession,” shares Nandita.

That is not all, she is also a baker, but it is decorating the cake that gets her adrenaline pumping. “It is a creative space and you can make the cake look however you want to.”

Nandita even had her own show, Radhuni, which was telecast on Akash Bangala (a Bengali TV Channel) for a year. “I used to have brief lessons on simple vegetable carving, which was telecast at the end of every cooking show,” beams a happy Nandita, who adds that she is open to such shows here too.

According to her, when one is into decorating their own home or take to the arts, “they will feel good about themselves. It should be a passion. Working on arts from home, can be pursued as a hobby or as profession,” she smiles.

Nandita can be contacted on nanditadg@yahoo.com

This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track