It is refreshing to see happy paintings you can relate to . Jaya Javeri’s works arejust that. When you enter her sunny studio at home you feel a sense of calm and inner joy. The oil paintings are ‘happening’ in that they are textured, have a three dimensional feel and are pieces of reasonably priced art that you can live with.
An MBA from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Jaya took the predictable corporate route and followed it for five years before deciding that it was the creative life of an artist that she truly wanted.
Mostly self-taught and low-profile, Jaya chooses not to use a brush but a knife instead to bring her imagination to life. It can be a painstaking process but the terrific textured layers that a knife gives is unmatched.
Exploring the richness of colours, gives this artist a real high. Her temple paintings are earthy and get that spot of colour through the clothes of the characters in it.
The carvings on an old temple door dance before the eyes having been brought to life through the skilful use of the knife.
The paintings have a strong architectural streak with temple courtyards, steps and spaces figuring prominently. She excels at making landscapes that are still and yet appear to move. There is that quality both of stillness and motion. You almost feel you are walking into the frame and canvas.
Jaya picks up places you might consider mundane like old temples in Malleswaram with a couple of little girls and women and creates a wonderful picture or sailing ships. Nature sustains her spirit and creativity and she highlights the beauty of eucalyptus trees in Ooty or a bougainvillea with much elan.