All The World's A Canvas!

FOR THOSE OF US USED TO SEEING ARTISTS' STUDIOS THAT ARE CLUTTERED WITH PAINTS AND PAINTING TOOLS SCATTERED RANDOMLY AND CANVASES SPRINKLED AROUND, VIJAYALAKSHMI VEERAPPAN'S HOME STUDIO COMES AS A SURPRISE. BEAUTIFULLY ORGANIZED, THIS IS A SPACE THAT OVERLOOKS A SMALL TERRACE.

- DAYA KINGSTON

POTTERING ABOUT THE HOUSE TENDING TO LITTLE CHORES AND TWIN DAUGHTERS, SHE SETTLES DOWN TO A QUICK CHAT WITH US. BORN INTO THE ILLUSTRIOUS AVM FAMILY WHICH HAS PRODUCED SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC FILMS IN SOUTH INDIA, CREATIVITY RUNS IN HER VEINS. HER HUSBAND, RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHI, IS AN INTERIOR DESIGNER, AND SHE WORKS WITH HIM TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL HOME INTERIORS, MANY OF WHICH ARE DECORATED WITH OBJETS D'ART CREATED BY HER. THE COUPLE IS BLESSED WITH BEAUTIFUL TWIN DAUGHTERS, ANUSHKAA AND AMARAA.

She says, “For me, art is about bringing in positivity; when you look at art, it should bring you happiness. You are going to see it every day, so it should bring positive energy and vibrance. I like using a variety of media.”

Talking about how her artistic journey started, she reveals that she was formally trained in Art, “I completed my Fine Arts Degree at Stella Maris College and have undertaken many other courses, including interior design. I do interiors, art, and art-as-interiors... meaning I work on furniture such as chest-of-drawers, tables, cupboards and so on.

“On completing college, I started painting on t-shirts. I used to sell a lot of cute things, then I went on to tie-and-dye. This was followed by a phase of painting on pots, where I worked with some potters from Madurai and designed my own pots. Later, I was painting on glass and then furniture after getting carpenters to custom-make them.