Poetry in porcelain

64-year-old Anaheeta Mehta and 72-year-old Urmila Jain are no doubt grandmothers, but that’s hardly an excuse for them to put up their feet. The enterprising duo have been hand-painting on porcelain and ceramics since the past 35 years and are planning to hold an exhibition to showcase their works later this month.

A smorgasbord of motifs ranging from ethnic Indian designs, Moghul miniatures, flora and fauna renditions, abstract patterns, international art, old Bombay lithographs adaptations etc unfold onto dinner sets, table ware, trinket boxes vases, clocks, mirrors and wall plates.

But what’s unique about their creations is that they use real liquid gold and platinum to add a touch of royalty to their collection. “But our USP lies in creating immaculate finished pieces and high grade porcelain,” avers Jain.

They import white bone china and porcelain pieces from Europe on which the designs are then hand-painted. “All our designs are one-of-a-kind as we can’t guarantee a client and an exact copy since we don’t believe in doing decals or transfers,” says  Mehta. And like all things original, creating a hand-crafted item is time-consuming, detailed and costly. The price ranges from Rs3,000 to Rs35,000 depending on the difficulty of the pattern and size of the item. Depending on the intricacy of the pattern, making one item could take anywhere between three to four days even going up to 10 odd days.

“We both loved art in some form or the other, so we though why not start our own hand-painted porcelain business? We have now trained two girls in this field and they carry out the hand-painted work,” says Mehta.

Almost three decades ago the duo learnt this hand-painted technique from an American lady and ever since have been making it for friends and family. It was only in 2002 that they formally launched their label called ‘Aarmanart — A Porcelain Affair’ and began selling their creations out of an office in Nariman Point.

The artists bake, paint and fire up their creations in a kiln to arrive at a delicate sheen and finish for the final product. “Seeing the finished product is the most exciting part of the process,” exclaims Jain.

They surprisingly don’t have any celebrity clientele but say it includes anyone and everyone who appreciates art and beauty.