Poetry on canvas! Sahitya Akademi gets poets to paint

It was poetry of a different nature at the National Academy of Letters here when eminent poets from across the country gathered to express themselves not through verse but paint!
Abstract painter-poet S V Rama Rao, who has shared exhibition space with leading global artists such as Picasso, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali among others led a lecture- demonstration "Poetry on Canvas" to emphasise the link of art with literature.
Rao filled his canvass with colorful lines and few large spots waiting to be a perfect abstract painting.
"I always want the viewer to wonder how I created this painting. When I am in London, the West influences my work and in India I get influenced by Indian culture. I always wanted to be at par with Picasso, if not ahead of him," said Rao whose works of art are hung at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Nine other poets from different parts of the country participated in the seminar on "Literature and other Arts", which is part of the ongoing annual Festival of Letters at the Sahitya Akademi.
While some poets busied themselves mixing colours on their palettes, seated on a stage under the shade of a peepul tree others busied themselves sketching outlines on their canvass.

Their minds and hearts were working in-tandem with the canvass,each stroke of their brush were giving new meaning to the artworks.
Kumar Anupam, who attempted an abstract art to depict the poverty and helplessness in India, said though he wrote poetry with his mind he paints with his heart.

"I never paint but painting gets itself made through my medium" said Anupam who hails from Uttar Pradesh.
Tushar Dhawal Singh, a writer and poet, who lives in Mumbai says he has tried to explore the man-woman relationship through his art. "Many times I write as painter and many times I paint as a poet. The essence of creation through which I like to explore, doesn't matter whether it is painting or poetry," says Singh.
Rama Rao says whose canvass was full of colourful lines and few large spots waiting to be a perfect abstract painting.
"I always want the viewer to wonder how I create this painting. When I m in London, west influences my work & in India I get influenced by Indian culture. I always wanted to be at par with Picasso, if not ahead of him,"

Meanwhile, Rao who has been awarded the Padma Shree in 2001 has also won recognition as an eminent art teacher in the United States.
"To become a great artist, one has to create a style of his own, otherwise however great work you do it would be great only in the technical sense," he says.