By B.N. Ramya
From minute seeds to magnificent mountains, nature has always been an inspiration to many, especially artists. So inspired by nature was L. Yoganand, a city-based artist, that he has created micro art on wild seeds portraying eight Jnanpith awardees — Rashtrakavi Kuvempu, Da.Ra. Bendre, Shivaram Karanth, Masti Venkatesh Iyengar, Vi.Kru. Gokak, Girish Karnad, U.R. Ananthamurthy and Chandrashekar Kambar. Yoganand, who is known for his creative works, calls this art as ‘Oil Colour On Seeds’ and this work blends a unique combination of oil colour and ‘Bauhinia’ seeds which is only found in India’s Western Ghats. A person who loves travelling, Yoganand says that he found ‘Bauhinia’ seeds at Hysodlur, close to Gonikoppal in South Kodagu. The moment I saw the flat seeds, I was immediately attracted. Then I went in search of such seeds and local Jenu Kurubas (tribals) took me into the forest and I could collect some 19 seeds. It was wilting season for ‘Bauhinia’ and I had to collect fallen seeds,” he adds.
