In an attempt to put her Diploma in Interior Design from Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University to good use while still catering to her artistic sensibilities, Sravani Mustikovela combs through Old City and Nampally in Hyderabad to search of antique furniture that she can refurbish with art. Once, she came across a vintage round table with teakwood legs and a marble top. "The seller told me that the legs were carved during the time of the Nizams. I'm not sure if he was telling me the truth but it got me really excited," laughs the 25-year-old as she shares this piece of trivia with us. Today, an intricate floral design adorns the marble top of this table as a part of its makeover. Named Ambersariya, it is currently on Sravani's portal, sravaniart.com, that she set up in (year), waiting for a loving home.
But interior decor is just a part of what Sravani does because this artist is primarily a painter. She paints with a palette knife because for her, "textures trump clean brush strokes, any day!" She calls her art "open impressionism, if there is a term like that," she shares with a smile. But it took this youngster a considerable amount of time to decide that she wanted to pursue art full-time. She even worked at W Design Studio, an interior design company, for three months before finally realising that she would rather focus on art. "Before I took the leap of faith, I researched a lot! I looked at how other artists do this full-time, understood what my challenges could be and so on," she says.
It's been two years since she's gone full-time and though the orders only trickled in during the first year, this year has been much better for her. She has sold over ten paintings and is open to commissioned paintings and collaborations too, apart from teaching art as an after-school activity at Kidzplore Klub, Madhapur. Her work is now getting noticed by curators as well, she informs us. So it wouldn't be wrong to conclude that she has no regrets of choosing art as a career. "It may seem like a tough career and it is. However, there can never be too much beauty or enough artists to brighten our lives," she says with a smile.
What else is Sravani up to?
- She is also pretty neat at illustrating and has done so for a few clients
- She does workshops as well, having done over seven till date
- She even conducts corporate events, she did one recently at DLF
Some of her work
For more on her, check out instagram.com/palettehues
