Shivani Vishwakarma, 27, a resident of Pithoragarh, Mini Kashmir, Uttarakhand, has become a popular face among people today due to her excellent painting. Presently, Shivani is an art teacher at Army Public School, Pithoragarh and is stunning people through her paintings. Paintings in such a way that everyone is always watching.
Shivani’s father Late Diwani Ram was a famous artist of Pithoragarh. Everyone was also a fan of his art. His paintings are still present in the gallery of Pithoragarh College. Shivani learned the nuances and understanding of paintings from her childhood under the guidance of her father. “My father has been my first mentor, trainer and my inspiration,” she says.
Since childhood, Shivani had a deep love for colors and paintings and today that attachment of Shivani is clearly visible in her paintings. In most of Shivani’s paintings, you will get a glimpse of the folk life and folk culture of the mountains. The mountains are realistic in these paintings. In his paintings, from nature, animals and birds, river-springs, farm-khalyan, a glimpse of the rich cultural heritage is also visible.
Rejected job offer from France
If you want to know how much someone loves his mother-in-law, you can ask Shivani. After graduating in Fine Art from Almora, Shivani obtained her Master’s degree in Fine Art from Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Rajasthan. In the year 2019, she got a job call from France under a very good package, but Shivani did not want to go away from her mother and family, so she turned down the job call.
She wanted to do something by staying in the mountains. Shivani wants to do a PhD on Art and Culture of Uttarakhand and give them a new identity at the global level. In the year 2018, on June 3, the Artists Foundation invited artists from across the country to create the longest painting on the occasion of World Environment Day at the Shivaji Stadium in Delhi.
Shivani Vishwakarma of Pithoragarh district was among the 1,145 Indians who prepared the painting. The artists had registered their name in the Guinness Book of World Records, breaking China’s record by creating 3,435 feet long paintings for two consecutive hours. At that time there was a wave of happiness in the whole family including Shivani’s mother Janaki Vishwakarma and Pithoragarh. Apart from this, people from all corners of Uttarakhand had greeted Shivani.
The goal is to make folk culture a new identity and make women self-reliant
Shivani’s dream is to create new opportunities through her art and paintings and take her mountain folk, folk-life, folk-culture to the country and the world. Apart from this, she wants to empower needy women through paintings, so that they become self-reliant. Shivani sells her paintings through a painting studio/art gallery at London Ford, Pithoragarh, and also teaches people the nuances of painting.
She sells most of her paintings through her art lake and digital platform/online. Shivani has a lot of demand for paintings, so she sometimes sits overnight and makes paintings. Shivani likes to make portraits and human faces the most in paintings. Apart from this, she wants to spread the colors of the folk culture from the mountain folk life to the canvas, so that they come alive.
Family got support at every step
Shivani says, “I am extremely fortunate to have the support of my family at every step. My father and mother got support in the maternal house, then my husband Anand Damdiyal ji was in the in-laws’ house. He always encourages me. My dream is that one day people will know Pithoragarh and Uttarakhand because of the paintings.
In fact, colors give us a form, give a form to our seeing. Without colours, no festival, no gaiety. No life without colours. Colors symbolize happiness, prosperity and success. Shivani Vishwakarma brings alive the colors of imagination on canvas with her art.
We hope that in the coming times, Shivani will be able to give a new identity to not only Pithoragarh, but the whole of Uttarakhand through her unique painting.
If you ever visit Pithoragarh, you can buy some of his best paintings at Shivani’s Art Gallery in London Fort, or visit Art Sarovar’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/artist.shiwani) or Instagram (https://www.artsarovar). /www.instagram.com/art_and_culture____/?utm_medium=copy_link) page.
Editing: Archana Dubey
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