This Barodian can make worlds smallest paintings

This Barodian can make worlds smallest paintings
Prajesh Shahs painting of 10 mm size has got him a place in Limca book of records
Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA

Monday, December 29, 2008

Worlds smallest painting enclosed in just 10 mm has got 29-year-old Prajesh Shah a place in the Limca book of records. Micro paintings, micro calligraphy, rangoli on nails, chalk carving are some of other creative skills that this Barodian artist possesses.

Shah, a visiting faculty of interior designing at MSU and an art teacher in a school of Vadodara, has not taken any formal training of art. But his interest in designing and keenness to create something different took him to the world of micro paintings.

“When I used to see big size paintings in exhibitions and on internet, I felt why not to make micro paintings. I started making micro size paintings of 100 mm, 75 mm and gradually narrowed down to the latest 10 mm which has been selected for Limca book of records as worlds smallest painting,” said Shah. Sometimes, it just takes 20 minutes to make a micro painting while sometimes it takes 20 hours of stressful eyes and back pain to create a piece of micro art. “Micro art demands a lot of concentration and patience. Many times it happens that a single small mistake could scrap a whole piece of art. After making more than 5,000 pieces of art finally I have collected 111 best pieces of micro paintings,” added Shah.

Interestingly, his brushes for the micro paintings are made of his own hair and eyelashes. Shahs micro world is not limited only to the micro paintings but he also does calligraphy on sesame and poppy seeds (khas khas). He can write about seven characters on sesame and on khas khas which is just too microscopic but done without the use of any magnifying glass. Shahs other creation includes an album which includes 10 micro paintings of 15 mm size. He has also made a calligraphic portrait of Narendra Modi by inscribing “Shri Narendra Modi” 12,000 times, which he has sent to the CM. In addition, he does rangoli on his own nails. Carving on chalks is another piece of art by this multitasking artist.

Recently, Shah has been invited to the Kankaria Carnival by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation along with other artists to paint on a 2,000 ft long canvas. In all, 150 artists and 200 fine art students will paint the 2,000 ft long wall at Kankaria as a part of the carnival on Monday within the time duration of nine hours. Each artist will be given canvas of 4x5 ft size to make painting on given themes. He will be painting on Beti Bachao theme.Other than this, Shah knows various different art forms - Varli painting, Madhubani painting, Rajasthani painting, cartoons, modern art, mural, sculpture, rangoli and other 25 different types