Having many interests and abilities can make for a rich and satisfying life. Artist Anand Swaroop Machiraju is a shining example of this elevated sense of gratification that comes through his soothing demeanour. Exceptionally good at the art of being humble, this septuagenarian believes that an artist must turn inward, become still, meditate on that stillness and awaken to what is within, which seeks expression. In Anand Swaroop’s case, all he had to do was to reconnect with the artist of soul that lived in his DNA as a gift from his late father M.S. Murthy, a renowned artist. He started exploring the nuances of a paint brush when he was all of five. “I would watch my father paint and grab the brushes to clean them at the end of the day. At that time, I would try my hand at it,” he recounts with nostalgia. It did not take long for him to sense his passion for fine arts and he enrolled for a course in photography while in school. Later, he joined the Rishikesh unit of the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited in Uttranachal as an artist and a photographer. Smitten by the tranquility and intimacy the place offered, he allowed the overwhelming natural beauty of the verdant landscapes, the earth carpeted with green grass, the gurgling brooks and streams and the snow-capped mountain peaks to stoke the fire of creativity in him. Soon, he was filling empty canvasses with a series of landscapes, portraits and abstracts. The power of imagination made him infinite as he reveled in stepping into the unknown to fulfil his strong desire for discovery without any attachment to outcome; he was willing to get lost in his new love of adventure. Anand Swaroop calls himself an artist by birth, a photographer by profession and a sculptor by practice. The lawns of his house in Rishikesh are dotted with some rare sculptures he has created. Innovative streak. The innovative streak in him made him one of the first to use photochemical on bromide as a medium of painting. He has also done paintings on discarded XRay sheets. “As a student of photography, I once discovered that a chemical, when splashed on X-Ray sheet gives a fascinating result. This technique he used it at a later stage to create an image of Lord Ganesha flanked by Siddhi and Buddhi and a few other images. Substituting the paint brush with different other modes like a thread, a broom stick, a nail, or even the bristles of a comb dipped in colour to get an image, he realized that an artist is like a scientist who experiments and draws very different meanings with the same data. Focused conception of an idea, its visualization, use of right technical means and careful execution is a sure-fire recipe for good result, he says. Of the 3,000 paintings, categorized in different genres, many of them adorn the walls of art galleries and museums across the country. The South Zone Cultural Centre, Madras, Austrian Embassy, New Delhi, Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi, Andhra Academy of Arts, Vijayawada and State Gallery of Hyderabad are a few of these places. His 20-odd solo exhibitions across the country have won him critical appreciation of art-lovers. Equipped with many rewards and awards bestowed in recognition of his talent, the artist still seems ravenous, wanting to rummage around for newness. Flirting with lines, colours, shapes and textures for years, to describe them, he thinks beyond straight or curved, red or orange, light or dark, round or square, striped or polka dot, shallow or deep, and small or large. His landscape paintings are filled with farmland and barns that greet viewers with a warm blast of dazzling sunlight and complete with the intoxicating aroma of a freshly cut hayfield, and the glistening golden blades of hay while his abstract works are about swirling shapes and an array of colourful patterns where at times, one gets to see pure energy and cosmic flow. The intensity of his work enriches the viewer’s experience.