Bengaluru artist bags Shilp Guru award

BENGALURU: City based artist Prabha Mallesh (62) has won the prestigious Shilp Guru award in recognition for her Mysuru style paintings. The award, constituted by the Centre, honours artists for their innovative style and promotion of traditional arts. It was recently conferred to Prabha by President Pranab Mukherjee at a function in New Delhi.

A life member of Chithra Kala Parishat (CKP) in city, Prabha has 300 paintings to her credit and trained more than 100 students. She has held painting exhibitions in many places, including the world famous ARC gallery, Chicago, Quality Hotel, London and Appa Rao Gallery in Chennai.

“Since my childhood I was good at painting. But I started learning it as a craft after my marriage. Legendary artists Svetoslav Nikolaevich Roerich and Devika Rani , who encouraged me to join CKP to learn painting,” she recalled. “Subrananium Raju, the Mysuru palace painter, was my first guru. So, I developed an interest in Mysuru style,” she added.

“In the initial stages I used to do all kinds of paintings. But now I am committed to the Mysuru style,” Prabha said. In her paintings she uses intricate designs to depict themes of Indian mythology.