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| Ganeshas from Good Earth Large one by Somashekhar and others by trainees and young friends |
The birth of Perin’s Ganesh was the beginning of our studio
at Bhulabhai Memorial Institute changing the focus of the studio from advertising art to
studio pottery. Ganesh known to be an obstacle remover, Perin did not give up in
the face of the obstacles when she began creating clay ganeshas. Initially
there was borrowed materials, borrowed space in the tiny copper enamel kiln of
our artist friend Chandrakant (Babu) Mhatre. He would lend us his kiln to use
after he packed up for the day. Once the experiments proved successful, Perin’s
small red Ganeshas in ceramic became a hit. Whoever saw it wanted one for
themselves. It was Hema Sankalia who found these Ganeshas worthwhile to introduce into her
shop CAC (Contemporary Arts and Crafts), and thereafter there was no looking
back. They were ready to take any number of the Ganeshas that we/Perin could
make. The little Red Ganesh became famous.
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| A very special Ganesh, wheel thrown-cut and altered, glazed in red made by Perin at Good Earth, Alibag. |
Much later, our studio, Good Earth was set up in
Alibag, and we started making not just
the small red Ganesh but a wide variety of Ganeshas in various colours and
sizes, assisted by Somashekar, our very talented help (a traditional potter by
birth). Somashekar could sculpt freehand (and still can) the traditional Ganesh
idol with all the details in any size ranging from half an inch to a metre. Perin
also trained quite a few young boys and girls of the village to make similar
Ganeshas and other small artifacts in clay under the training scheme of the
District Industries Centre - Alibag and KVIC.
