SUSHNESSLIGHTS – If all goes well, a new brand name of canvas on lamps will soon hit the market in Oman. Colours and canvas are a weakness for Sushmita

Gupta, who also runs ClassApart for children in Muscat. Her idea to replicate some of her paintings on lamps was born out of creativity. It was a new passion for making effective use of lamps to enhance living places at low cost that has given wings to her talents. Entering a new realm is exciting and at times

risky too. But, it was her enthusiasm to explore and experience the joy of having canvas on lamps. Sushmita says she has been dabbling with

lighting for quite some time. “Lighting makes all the difference. That’s my thought and I apply them to almost anything and it works. This can be from home decor to even ones’ own thoughts.” How is it made possible? Sushmita says throwing light on happy thoughts

keeps her happy. Similarly lighting up kindness in

the soul makes her non-judgmental about people around her.However, when it comes to homes, simple rooms

take on a classy look and ultra-luxurious ones look warm and inviting with the help of correct lighting. Her love of lamps and her stress on lighting is quite obvious for anybody who steps into her home at Al Azaiba. For Sushmita’s countless number of friends who

know her well, it is her passion of for painting which has emboldened her to take the next step. “I love playing with colours on almost any surface. Canvas being the most used by me, I have painted on saris, earthen pots, walls, cupboards, cowrie shells and stones too.”It was only a few months back that she hit upon

the idea of combining paintings and lighting. At first few lamps were created on an experimental basis with the idea of further refining them. This she explains was an adventure of sorts which

took her to places she had never visited earlier in Kolkata, India. A small shop, with more depth than width on a busy street was where she landed after

Liju Cherian

When it comes to homes, simple rooms take on a classy look and ultra-luxurious ones look warm and inviting with the help of correct lighting. Susmita’s love of lamps and

lighting is quite obvious for anybody who steps into her home

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Glow of warmth through lighting

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Glow of warmth through lighting

Sushmita with a folk painting on the wall done on a mirror

knocking on various doors and on a shop run by generations of lamp shade makers. They claimed to make the frames and did the fitting of the cloth or paper as was the case on the metal skeleton. This felt like a start. The next step was to get some of her art printed

on paper and canvas which was no challenge at all. Just a few months before this ‘adventure’, her poetry book along with two other friends from India were released in May last year. The multilingual triangulam book is a compilation

of poems written by Rajib Chakraborty (in Bengali), Susmita Basu Majumdar (in Hindi) and Sushmita Gupta (in English). The book, a cultural kaleidoscope is printed by extremely talented people, a father and daughter duo of the famous ‘Frame House’ fame. Both Bimal and Suchona Samanta are unassuming, friendly and extremely gifted. Suchona was trained at Rabindranath Tagore’s

School at Shantiniketan who took on with interest and worked tirelessly with Sushmita to transfer the right sizes of her paintings on textured paper and

on canvas. The prints were handed over to the lamp makers after which she suffered from an extreme sense of excitement in anticipation of the finished products. Finally when it came through, Sushmita was not

disappointed. “My babies looked fantastic. They looked extremely exotic and special,” she points gleefully.Lamp lighting has been in her blood for quite

some time. She reminisces that right from the start of her life

Udayan, her husband, they were high on enthusiasm, but though low on funds, on this idea. “Aesthetic living was always on the cards, something

which I inherited from my mom Sujata Gupta. That’s when I stumbled upon the use of lamps to enhance living places at low cost,” she says.Sushmita admits that the effects of lamps and

candles are universal. They always can uplift one’s moods and spirits. “Soft lighting calms minds and brings in tenderness of thoughts. It makes music

which also sounds better to me.”Painting and lighting are not a new

thought at all, she mentions. She has come across folk art on lamps but not works of artist’s on lamps before.In one of the folk paintings done of

the wall has a mirror attached to it. In a new concept, the small mirrors deflect light too. While others having paintings and flowers, she uses light in strategic places as well as diffused lighting mainly not to overwhelm a viewer. Those with the painting, she deliberately uses that to convert into a lamp and named it ‘Moonrise.’She admits that it is a challenge of sorts

to install lamps at home because of lack of plug points. In some cases she enlists support from electricians who come with casings and complete the job neatly.But who really inspired to take this up?

It was her own enthusiasm, she reveals. Once she expressed the idea to her mom who really loved it. Not just for this work but for each and every other she takes up, her mom encourages her the most.Her first thoughts on seeing her ideas

being realized was one of the best feelings she ever had which was way beyond satisfaction.Sushmita has done few art related to

Oman and one of the lamps she already made carries the print of ‘Three Girls.’ Many of her paintings carry a strong local flavour. In fact two of the sample lamp pieces show some influence. While some of her new paintings are ready it takes as long as the workman completes his assigned task. For a set of lamps of various sizes it took them about three weeks. She however thinks that if one worked dedicatedly for her, it would take less time.As for the future, it is Sushmita’s dream

to have a label all of her own and to be able to begin production and is serious on this. Names like Sushnesslights, Sushnesslightsup or LightsofSushness have been visualized as labels, admitting that that it will have name of Sushness for sure.

“Soft lighting calms minds and brings in

tenderness of thoughts. It makes music which also

sounds better to me.” — Sushmita Gupta

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