Age is just a number, says 88-year-old Pune-based artist Nisreen Moochhala. “I do not feel intimidated by it.” By all accounts, Moochhala has had an interesting journey in art. Born in 1935, and schooled in Surat, Moochhala went on to complete her Diploma in Painting from the Sir J J School of Arts, Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1957. Such was her confidence in her own competence and abilities that she insisted on and secured (after a test) direct admission into the second year of the diploma course.She also completed her postgraduate study in Mural Decoration at the J J School. Fondly recalling her association with the institution, Moochhala feels that her academic drill helped in honing up her skills in portraiture, still life, anatomy studies, design and composition. Following her marriage in 1958, she moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1959 to embrace the rigours and routine of domesticity and raising children

Nosy neighbours eavesdropping on a courting couple, an overcrowded general compartment, a snapped clothesline, the surprise of sudden rain. Everyday scenes from lives around us, images that register but we do not always relate to, are Nisreen Moochhala’s inspiration. Nosy neighbours eavesdropping on a courting couple, an overcrowded general compartment, a snapped clothesline, the surprise of sudden rain. Everyday scenes from lives around us, images that register but we do not always relate to, are Nisreen Moochhala’s inspiration.

India is home to more than 50 types of traditional forms of paintings. What was once thriving and prosperous, is now facing extinction because of several reasons- complexity of the work, time consuming techniques and lack of proper channels to consistently support and promote the art and the artists.

How Clyde D’Mello captures the concept of time through his art > Greek gods. Old Testament prophets. Fire and Brimstone. Time and Space. There is a recurrence of these topics in the works of visual artist Clyde D’Mello and with good reason. Most people remember that defining moment in their lives with clarity. So does visual artist Clyde D’Mello. “As a child I would frequent a bookstore near the church every week. There I picked up a book on classical art — it was the catalogue of the Prado Museum in Spain. That was my introduction to the fine arts,” says Clyde, adding that he was around 12 years old then.