Her tryst with art started while she was as young as seven and Simran Wahan the creative director of Amaya, a store offering wide range of customised handmade gifts recalls that it was her mother who introduced her to the world of art and craft. Since this formal induction, there has been no looking back for Simran, who continues to make and sell exclusive hand-crafted goodies under the Amaya banner.
Amaya opened its doors to the public in 2010 in Coimbatore. its founder perfectly juggles her time between running this store and hosting art and craft workshops. One such workshop was hosted today at On The Go restaurant. In-between this workshop, Simran shares with us about her journey so far.
“Art can be learned by anyone and at any time. One does not have to be good at drawing to learn art. In fact, If you can write your name you can draw. I have been training people in various art and crafts for the last seven years. I have participants who have never attempted to draw. However, at the end of the four hour session, participants bring out the best in them on paper.” Simran says.
Commenting on the today’s workshop Simran says “My classes are usually theme based and contemporary. The theme for this class is circles of life. It is to show that every single object comprises of lines and circles. This technique can be implemented in various art forms. The classes are conducted from scratch. One session can give you the ability to go from 0 to 60 and the rest you can achieve by regular practise. Practising for about 15 minutes per day will improve your drawing skills.” Simran says.
When asked about the advantages of getting involved in art she says "In digital world when everyone is busy with tabs, Smartphones and other gadgets, art is the only thing which can be the actual stress buster. Drawing helps you to focus on one point and brings your heart rate under control. It is also one kind of meditation. When one is involved in drawing something all his/her thought process revolves around the subject and this improves concentration.”
She also shares with us that at her workshops she has participants from 4 years to as old to as old as 64. Her participants include a mix of professional women to home-makers who wish to take a break from their routine work. In the initial one hour the participants lack little confidence in themselves. But by the end of the session many participants come out with their own imagination which is something commendable she says. Simran regularly hosts classes teaching participants the various art forms.
Just by word of mouth and through social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook, her classes stay fully enrolled. In today’s session, housewives Suganya and Thirumalini, who are school mates participated. They shared with SimpliCity that they did drawing only during their school days and it was at today’s workshop that the two have attempted to draw, after a really long gap.
They said the 4 hours spent here was an amazing experience as they got to learn something enticing and new. They are planning to enroll for these classes regularly as it was a good stress busting activity too, they added.