Jubilee Hills' coworking space, Jxtapose, is hosting yet another interesting event on August 25 and this time, it is a Zentangle workshop. In case you are wondering what that is, Zentangle is an art form that enables you to create images through structured, repetitive patterns. The repetition relaxes the mind and puts those jagged nerves at ease. Now there are a few such workshops being conducted, but what is unique about this workshop was the instructor. Pradeepa Kesiraju is a certified Zentangle teacher and the only one in the Telugu-speaking states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
To cut a long story short, Kesiraju was working in the US, but then quit her job four years ago and started the funky store Party Monsterz in Gachibowli. During that time, she had some free time on her hands, discovered Zentangle and began practising it. Upon her husband's instance of doing things the right way, Kesiraju learnt the art straight from the founders themselves, Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts and even travelled to the US for it. And voilà! She became a certified trainer in June 2018 and here she is, conducting a workshop. "At the end of our certification, Rick and Maria made us create an artwork and turned the individual art pieces of 120 participants from 17 counties into a collective mosaic. When I looked at it, I realised that not one was similar to another. Every artwork was a representation of ourselves. It was a wonderful process," says the 39-year-old artist while describing her epiphany.
Inspired, for her first workshop on August 25, Kesiraju will follow the same process and make a mosaic of all the artwork of the participants right at the end. Oh and what a sight it will be! At the workshop, while teaching them Zentangle, she will relate the whole process to life itself. The first step is appreciating what you have. Then, the participants will be asked to draw borders, similar to creating boundaries in life and other aspects. "I will encourage them to just create and not worry about the outcome," says Kesiraju. And within three hours, "Everyone will have in their hands their own version of a masterpiece," she says delightedly. She does caution us against taking part in workshops that are not conducted by certified trainers though. "I have personally sat in these kinds of classes and observed that they treat Zentangle like doodling, whereas the former is so much more," says the artist vehemently. And she does have a point. If you are learning something, you might as well learn it from the best, right?
Kesiraju completely understands the stress that students and professionals go through. After all, she has gone through the same stress as well. It is art that has always come to her rescue in times like these. "Art keeps you company for a lifetime," says the alumna of St Francis College for Women, Begumpet, which is why she wants more and more people to learn Zentangle and in it, find a friend who will remain one forever.
To kind out more about the artist, click on facebook.com/
