The floor her canvas

“When I was in my fifth grade, I would see my grandmother draw kolams during Margazhi. Later, she used to wake me up early in the morning to draw kolams and decorate them with lamps. I have been passionate about kolams since then,” says Shanthi Sridharan, who runs a popular social media page on this Indian art form.

It all started with Shanthi’s daughter clicking pictures of her kolams every day. Shanthi was then encouraged by her family to exhibit her kolams on a bigger platform and she thought digital is the best. She put them up on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. The ‘likes’ and comments made her think about her art seriously.

Shanthi has a collection 2,000 designs that are inspired by sculptures, monuments and wall paintings. img

The floor her canvas “I make my kolam space a sacred one,” she says. “During festivals, I draw kolams inside the house and decorate them with flowers and lamps.”

She started experimenting with portraits after suggestions on the social media. Initially, Shanthi started with the traditional kolams. But later she used concentric circles and vertical lines to create shapes, flowers, birds, portraits and mandalas.

It takes her five hours to complete a portrait and two hours to do the simple kolam with minimum colouring. She uses nylon powders to work on thin, intricate lines.

To get thicker lines, she mixes kolam powder with rice flour. For portraits and murals, she uses lake colours mixed with kolam powder proportionately to get a lighter and finer shade. She buys rangoli powders outside temples, in small towns. “Rich colours make the kolams stand out.”

Shanthi first makes a rough sketch before drawing it on the floor. She then chooses the colour. She applies the dots only for the traditional kolams.

Since creating kolams gives her joy, she plans to take it further by conducting classes and workshops. She also wants to do a live demonstration on Facebook and Instagram for people to watch and learn.