Strokes that speak a thousand words

KOCHI: Twenty years ago, when K Gomathi stepped down from her professional duties as the joint director of Technical Education, she knew what she wanted to do in her retirement years. The first woman graduate of Kerala University decided to take her passion for the arts seriously and enrolled under artist B D Dethan to master her skill. This was 20 years ago.

Now at 80, the educationist-cum-painter has grown with the times, displaying her art at various galleries in Thiruvananthapuram. Her latest work at ‘Datham 2019’ of a couple selling tubers near Vattiyoorkavu at the Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan has garnered a lot of appreciation from viewers. 

“I was inspired by Dethan’s works. His strokes have always fascinated me and made me want to  paint,” said Gomathi. She makes muses of real-life imagery. The seeds of her passion was sowed early on in life. “I remember painting the portrait of Jesus during my school days. It was my first ever painting. I remember being fascinated with painting babies,” said Gomathi.

Gomathi said she starts her day with painting. “Painting is a daily part of my routine. The only time I take a break is when I travel abroad to visit my daughter,” she said. 
Her picture series of Indian brides- Brahmin, Nair, Muslim and Christian, has also gained her a lot of attention. Some days, Gomathi wakes up in the middle of the night to paint. “Sometimes an idea strikes me then,” she said.

Interestingly, Gomathi has always associated painting with the skies. “The colours in the sky are diverse. The various hues can be depicted in many ways, including an evening sky, cloudy or a clear sky,” she said. 

Gomathi holds a PhD in Electrical engineering. She says in those days women who pursued engineering were very rare. “I wanted to become a doctor but pursued engineering at the College of Engineering, Trivandrum. 

Initially, there was another girl with me but she left owing to personal reasons,” Gomathi said. Ask her how it felt being the only girl to pursue the course, she says it was quite a challenge. “There were no separate washrooms. I had to use the staff washrooms,” she said.