Inspiring Eminent Blogger: Deepti Mittal

Any guesses who is going to join us today. Well well well.....let me introduce you all enthusiastic readers out there. Joining us today is Deepti Mittal an Indian Folk Fusion artist who is painting Madhubani for more than 20 years now and is currently residing in USA.

Welcome Deepti, it feels so proud to have you here on Design Decor & Disha. Please let us know little more about you.
Thank you Disha for having me here.
I am an MBA Finance Gold Medalist from Christ College, Bangalore. I started as an analyst with CB
Richard Ellis in Bangalore in the year 2008 where I worked for 2 years. After getting married in Nov
2010, I moved to USA where I am residing currently.

Meet the artist Deepti Mittal

That's very impressive Deepti. You are an amazing Madhubani artist I have ever come across. When and how you realized your passion about Madhubani .
I was born and raised in Bihar where this art finds its origins. My mom played pivotal role in
introducing me to Madhubani Painting when I was just seven years old. Ever since then, practicing
this form of art has been a parallel routine. I started with making greeting cards for Birthdays and
Anniversaries as my mom insisted that we give hand-made cards to family on occasions. From there
on, I slowly moved on to even painting sarees, kurtas, etc. The vibrant, rustic patterns of this style
have always thrilled me and I take creative liberty in tweaking its innate styles to create new ones.

Artwork by Deepti Mittal

Great you started painting Madhubani at the tender age of seven. You have come long way.
You have a Google site also. Can you talk about what prompted you to start the
site. In what ways has it affected your passion for art.
Actually I fortuitously happened to create a Google site which now I am quite glad about. When I
started painting after coming to USA, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take it up professionally. My husband
helped me create this Google site which was meant for sharing my art work with our families. Later,
when someone asked for my site at exhibitions, this is what I referred them to and it consequently
became my official art site. Although I am planning to register a domain pretty soon.

I am excited to see all your amazing stuff on your own website. Wish you good luck for that.
What are the tools and mediums you have used so far for your paintings.
Brush is the primary tool that I use for all my paintings. Even though line-work (kachani) dominates
in this art, purists don’t use pens/markers which is what creates its beautiful imperfections. Other
than brush, there is a special type of nib that is available in India (mostly in Bihar) which a lot of
artists use for painting on fabric.

A very beautiful creation by Deepti

I have practiced this art in every possible medium such as oil, enamel, water color, acrylic, etc and
have extensively painted on walls, floors, clay pots, fabrics, canvases and now on wood, cardboard,
etc. Owing to its versatility, acrylic remains my favorite medium.

My favorite one. Beautiful painting with some good message by Deepti

Though it's not easy to pick but of all your art pieces which one is your favorite and why.
That’s a tough one as I get obsessed with every piece I paint. I can sit and stare at them for hours
together. It’s funny I know but I do that.
I think, of the lot, the first stool that I painted in 2011 is so far my favorite work. It was a very
complicated project and painting its legs took a lot of effort and time but I was very pleased with the
final result.

Done by Deepti in her own unique style

You represented Madhubani art - an age old art in a very trendy fashion, how did
the idea spark.
I would say following the policy of “Normal is Boring” led to this trendy style as it wasn't a conscious
or deliberate effort.
I was very bored of painting the same styles over and over again. Since I have been doing this art
for 20 years now, you can imagine how mundane it gets to paint the same types of motifs in every
next project. Probably this is why, I started experimenting and have created my own genres which I
call ‘Modern Madhubani’ and ‘Folk Fusion’.

Modern Madhubani by Deepti Mittal

Although looking back, I remember when I was in school, I had painted a couple of earthen pots
which were the left overs from Diwali Pooja. It was appreciated as Madhubani Painting on three
dimensional objects wasn’t very popular then. Also, when I was in college, I had made clay earrings
and painted them in Madhubani style which the veteran artists loved and appreciated. So I guess I
always liked to paint different from the set and popular trends.

Wooden boxes, Photo frames and dresser....list goes on.

I really love your unique style of  'Folk Fusion'. 
What other then painting you love to do in your spare time.
I make videos for my online classes which are very useful in spreading the word about this art
breaking all geographical barriers. I read quite a bit, both related and unrelated to art. I also write,
although have been on a sabbatical for sometime now and I love watching movies.
Also, when not doing serious painting, I do small craft projects which include little DIY crafts, upcycle
art, quilling etc. Of them, upcycle art is what I like the best – its so cool to make beautiful things out
of garbage.

Clay earrings: Deepti's creation 

Please share the links where we can find your Art work and where my blog
readers can get connected with you.
The best place to connect is:
Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/DeeptiDesigns
Website : https://sites.google.com/site/deeptidesignsonline/
Email : deeptinirdesh@gmail.com

Which blogs inspire you and you love to visit them regularly.
I do a lot of reading about art online and keep stumbling over some exuberantly creative material
almost every day. Its overwhelming to see the amount of creative brilliance out there.
However, I have bookmarked the following for regular access
We Lived Happily Ever After
Art Instruction Blog
Darlene Design

Last but not the least, as everyone dreams of being something in life, what you
have dreamed of.
My aim at this point of time is to create art of substance and to keep this fire of insane passion for
art ignited all along…
Thank You Disha!

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Thanks a lot Deepti for joining us. We wish you good luck and successful life ahead.
Now as always I get inspired by all the artists I feature on my blog and can't resist to create my own art piece, this time also I tried to paint Madhubani for the first time. Here's my creation all thanks to Deepti for inspiring me.

My first Madhubani Painting on pot and envelope.

See y'all until the next time. Enjoy your weekend and in case you have missed earlier interviews here the links are:

1. Interview with Tangle Artist Himadri Pachori

2. Interview with Quilling artist Suganthi

3. Interview with Artist Ritu Dua