ANURADHA SARIN KHURANA

A botanical artist and illustrator, Anuradha Sarin Khurana has been studying plants for six years. She was drawn to flora after a visit to Shillong’s sacred forests in 2017. Piqued, Khurana followed it up with an intermediate level botanical drawing course at the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in London under the tutelage of award-winning botanical artist Lucy T Smith. She is now pursuing an advanced course with another exceptional botanical artist, Dianne Sutherland.

For Khurana, botanical art is an interpretation which is truthful in its representation of any species and is pleasing to the eye. She believes other forms of art can be representative, but botanical art must be scientifically accurate to depict various aspects of a plant. Hence, research is an important part of her practice. In her opinion, the art form enables people to understand how to appreciate, identify and differentiate between species.

Like several contemporary botanical artists, she shares a concern for the environment, particularly in light of climate change. “When you begin to work with plants, you understand what not to do. This is a process which opens people’s eyes to the importance of conservation and biodiversity,” explains Khurana.

For a few seasons, her focus has been documenting and recording the Indian frankincense trees found in the beleaguered Aravalli Hills, which are the oldest mountain range in the country. Though it has been declared critically endangered, there are a host of issues it faces. More particularly, the tree is being crowded out of its habitat and very few old frankincense trees are visible.

Drawing and painting a 50-year-old frankincense tree is in Khurana’s own words “an experience which involves all senses”. It’s a journey which begins when all the leaves fall at the end of February, the peach fuzzy blossoms emerge and develop into white blossoms in April and eventually the pollination process commences again in May.

A student of artist Rameshwar Broota at Triveni in New Delhi, Khurana specialised in figurative paintings before she permanently shifted to watercolours after she began to focus on botanical art and illustrations.

"Contemporary botanical artists share a concern for the environment, particularly in light of climate change, as well as for drawing attention to plants. Before photography was invented, botanical illustrations were essential to understanding plants. But today, too, drawings can illuminate aspects of plants in a way photos cannot. An illustration can show various parts of a plant at the same time, something a photo really can't. It can show extra details of the fruit, for example, and what it looks like bisected."

- Botanical Illustration: Putting a timely focus on nature, Robin Jess

Works

Petrea (3 flowers) mixed media on 270 GSM paper

8.2 x 6 inches, Rs. 6000

Hydrangea "Florets" (Botanical Studies and Sketches) mixed media on acid free paper

11.5 x 8.2 inches, Rs. 9,000

“Interconnect": Dandelion, Neem, Golden Shower Amaltas, Gulmohar, Plumeria Champa, Goya Khair each: pen, ink, graphite on grid paper each: 10.2 x 7.2 inches, Rs. 11,000

Hydrangea "Full”, Wild Daisies (Botanical Studies and Sketches) each: mixed media on acid free paper each: 11.5 x 8.2 inches, Rs. 11,000

Plumeria, Roseringed Parakeet graphite on 270 GSM paper, graphite and watercolour on 270 GSM paper each: 12 x 8.9 inches, Rs. 11,000

Rose Desi Gulab, Marigold (Botanical Studies and Sketches) each: mixed media on acid free each: 11 x 8.2 inches, Rs. 15,000

Plumeria (leaf and stem) graphite and watercolour on 270 GSM paper

12 x 8.9 inches, Rs. 15,000

Petrea watercolour on 300 GSM paper

8.2 x 6 inches, Rs. 18,000

Cottoncaster

Rotring pen and ink stipple on paper Rs. 25,000

Petrea Queens Wreath, "Dance of the Rose" giclee print on Hahnemuhle German paper each: edition of 3 each: 16.5 x 12 inches, Rs. 25,000

Lizianthus graphite on 300 GSM paper

12.2 x 9 inches, Rs. 28,000

Franckincense Blossoms Spray giclee print on Hahnemuhle German paper edition 1/1 12 x 8.5 inches, Rs. 30,000

Croton Leaf, Wax Begonia, Heliconia each: watercolour on 300 GSM arches hot pressed paper/ acrylic on textured paper each: 12.2 x 9 inches/ 15 x 11 inches each: Rs. 32,000

Lizianthus watercolour on 300 GSM paper

12.2 x 9 inches

Rs. 40,000

Petrea watercolour on 300 GSM paper

15 x 11 inches

Rs. 45,000

Frankincense Blossoms & Branch giclee print on Hahnemuhle German paper edition 1/1

23.5 x 16.6 inches

Rs. 60,000

Manita Singh

An applied arts student from the Chandigarh’s Government College of Art is now a fine artist specialising in painting flora. Manita Singh has vast experience in teaching art to students of various levels including children with learning disabilities.

Her creations are purely visual representations of the way she views plants through her naked eye. Singh’s forte as a watercolourist is her command over the medium and the ability to use it to depict the play of light in her works. Her chromatic impressions of flora give a tactile quality to the petals and leaves in her plant portraits.

Singh is also intrigued by the skill behind heritage buildings across India and the world and portrays architecture using the medium of watercolours. As a commissioned artist, her works have been exhibited at the American Embassy and World Health Organisation office in New Delhi, and she has also painted murals in private spaces.

Works

each: Untitled each: painted in 2019 each: watercolour on paper each: 20 x 30 inches, Rs. 60,000 each: Untitled each: painted in 2019 each: watercolour on paper each: 30 x 40 inches, Rs. 80,000

Raju Swami

Raju Swami, who has been trained in the Bikaner miniature style under the tutelage of his father, Govardhan Dass Swami, began painting at the age of seven. A specialist in botanical miniatures, some of Swami’s works are characterised by the rangini border, which is the pictorial use of flowers as a framing element

What differentiates the Bikaner style from the other Rajasthani styles of painting is the use of finer lines and a smaller palette of colours than what was used in the Mughal style. The Bikaner style was developed in the late 17th century as a result of artists who moved away from the Mughal court. Distinctive of the Bikaner school, Swami’s works represent flowers in the shape of a vase.

Preserving the skills and techniques honed over many generations, Swami grinds minerals and stones to create natural pigments, prepares fine brushes from hair plucked from the tail of squirrels, burnishes handmade wasli paper and works with gold leaf.

Works

Banyan Leaves, Mahua Leaves each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper each: 10 x 7 inches

Untitled (Rangini border, Gold vase) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper

7 x 10 inches, 10 x 12 inches each: Rs. 12,500

Untitled (Three Banyan trees with black landscape, Lotus flower with black landscape) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper each: 14 x 9 inches, Rs. 12,500

Untitled (Mango tree on gold ink, Squirrel on Tamarind branch) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper 8 x 11 inches, 10 x 15 inches each: Rs. 12,500

Untitled (Blue vase with red flowers, Two Kadam trees) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper 8 x 11 inches, 10 x 15 inches each: Rs. 20,000

Untitled (Blue lotus on gold leaf, Three Poppy flowers, Three Poppy flowers) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper

8 x 11 inches, 21 x 28 inches, 21 x 28 inches each: Rs. 25,000

Untitled (Three Banyan trees, Mango trees, Kadam tree, Banyan trees, Banana trees) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper

13 x 9 inches, 21 x 28 inches, 21 x 28 inches, 21 x 28 inches, 21 x 28 inches, 12 x 19 inches each: Rs. 25,000

Untitled (Apple, Pear with flowers) each: executed in 2022/2023 each: natural pigments on wasli paper 15 x 10 inches, 13 x 17 inches each: Rs. 25,000

Santoshi Shyam

Gond artist Santoshi Shyam’s canvases reflect the culture and rituals of the Gond tribe. Her inspiration has been her artist parents Narmada Prasad Tekam and Rambai. Hailing from Patangarh in Madhya Pradesh, her works highlight how the tribe lives in harmony with nature.

Gond art can be easily recognised by the use of lines, dots, vivid bright colours and strong motifs of trees, animals, village life and tribal rituals and deities. Shyam’s whimsical depictions are inspired by the forests of central India.

She is a part of the Gondwana Art Project in New Delhi that is a platform for tribal artists with the mission to nurture and develop their practice. This initiative promotes artists and their art form, which evolves from their dynamic living traditions.

Works

Butterflies in Garden painted in 2023 oil on canvas

36 x 48 inches, Rs. 1,56,000