Shalmali

I had the grateful opportunity to be a student of Ms. Lakshmi Vishwanathan for several years. As a result, over the years, I was able to have a closer glance at ma’am’s teachings and also at the manner in which she conducts her classes. She has played an especially significant role in culminating my interest and passion for art and design. She has always provided a helping hand when needed and is always ready to answer one’s numerous questions, no matter how many times it may be repeated. Her sincerity and patience always shines through every class while she is teaching. It was always a joy to be in ma’am’s class, for any learning that was passed onto us was extremely valuable. Moreover, ma’am’s willingness to share her knowledge only brought about more interest and also the urge to know and grow more in me. In addition to honing our skills, ma’am made sure we were aware of how to use it aptly. She is also an excellent person to have conversations with as you can see the years of experience that she holds. Having a conversation with ma’am will show one just how engaging and patient she is.

The manner in which ma’am taught us was noticeably clear and paired with great visual examples. Ma’am had every scenario that one wished to work with her, along with the memory of where each picture or book might be placed. Moreover, ma’am has a particular way of breaking things down so that they are understandable so that all the students of various ages are able to comprehend it. Even if a certain concept is particularly tricky, she will make sure that everyone has understood at least 10% of it so that when one is faced with the same concept or issue, they are able to at least identify it if not be able to correct it, or sometimes even be able to do it on our own since we have already seen the picture being discussed. She is a very thoughtful teacher who puts a lot of thought into how she presents the material. The most important factor is that ma’am highly encourages asking questions to each other which promotes faster and efficient
learning. This is also a way to know what everyone is thinking of while looking at a piece of work and how they interpret it. In this way, we are able to understand multiple POV’s in a comparatively short manner. Providing a great mix of listening, speaking and practical learning activities in an incredibly supportive environment is I think one of ma’ams key principles. Her manner of learning is in a very cohesive manner that involves activities which improve conversation, writing, and reading skills while learning about art.

While the classes consist of conversations on light topics as well there is a lot of serious learning going on. I also enjoyed the friendships, fun and lightheartedness that took place in the class. Every week was an adventure. There is a bond that develops in her classes between the students that make her very approachable. Another key factor is ma'am’s manner of criticism is more of encouragement rather than only pointing out the key mistakes and errors. She creates thoughtful content that challenges us students while also keeping it highly engaging and relevant. All pictures that I have done or come across in class have taught me something new. The manner in which ma’am has structured her class based on her morals and principles really sets the tone for future learnings. The quality and variety of techniques that I have learned from have raised my work to greater heights over the years. Ma’am’s expertise in teaching put our minds at ease, and we were given the liberty to ask any doubts or questions we had. Moreover, ma’am’s effort to provide us compensatory/makeup classes only showed her willingness to teach us and make sure we benefit from it. Ma’am has a certain understanding for us students that is sometimes found lacking in most teachers. This enthusiasm within ma’am made me want to learn more and piqued my interest. Her knowledge, support and guidance helped me realize my liking for art and that I could make a career out of it.

There were a lot of steps that were taken up by ma’am that made class fun as children, whether it was playing games on the annual picnics or even dressing up in traditional attire for the festivals and being given prasad without fail. I am currently a design student studying fashion and maam’s teachings have greatly impacted my knowledge and the way I work now. A particularly crucial factor that ma’am would always stress on was value and I can truly say that understanding value is crucially important. In today’s world where we highly rely on visual communication, understanding and being able to apply the concept of value comes in hand. Another practice that really helps me is the way we would all study each other’s pictures and have discussions is profoundly important for multiple reasons. One being that it taught me to look at the same thing from different angles. This method has become a must-do step while I am working on my pieces as it can form the base for any improvements and changes further on. In design, it is important to be able to look from different POV’s and having these discussions helped me as a stepping stone to actually be able to ideate on my ideas.

Moreover, in any creative field, criticism is present left and right. These discussions also prepare you for real life situations wherein you may be receiving the feedback or be the one giving opinions. So, its really killing two birds with one stone. Hence, discussing each other’s pictures is one of the most important exercises conducted. Another key factor was how we were exposed to a mix of both still life sessions as well as reference pictures. This really helped train my eye since sometimes ideas are visualized in a 2D manner and then converted into 3D models or vice-versa. This helped me have a better deeper understanding while ideating. The atmosphere created in the class really helped me able to sustain and work for longer hours as some difficult pieces could get overwhelming. However, we were always offered the option of switching to different pictures if we wished to as it would help comes back the original picture with a clearer mind. A skill that I struggled with was letting go of the brush, and over time maam really built up the confidence within me to just paint and see what happens. This has been universally applied in my work that I do now, since it is mistakes that form the foundation for one’s explorations. Having explored various mediums in class helped me in not having any second thoughts while exploring with varied materials and fabrics. The manner in which we would steadily move onto different mediums from color pencils to pastels to paints taught me that it is important to keep the basics down before taking the next step, that some things cannot be rushed and need to be learnt step wise. This has been useful while I am trying to think of ideas for my work and may seem to jump comparatively tricky pieces. I , then come down to the basics and then build my way up to my final ideation. In this manner I am also able to point out any obstacles or issues I might face.

Ma’ams guidance definitely had a hand in making me a confident and capable child. She has played a very vital role in my development as a person as well as a student. I would like to extend my gratitude for coming along with me on this important journey. I always looked forward to class and I still look forward to learning from ma’am in the coming future.

Thanking you,
Shalmali Jadhav