Champaklal - The Artist and a Yogi

Introduction

This portrait of Champaklal was done in the 1930s by Chinmayee (Mehdi Begum), as a member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It was further worked upon and finished by the Mother, who taught painting to Chinmayee.

Champaklal was not only a respected member of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, but almost an institution in himself. His devoted and meticulous personal service to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for over fifty years was an inspiring example of selfless service. His helpfulness to devotees who sought the Mother's blessings and advice on personal questions made him a friend and well-wisher of all....

It is surprising that in spite of the rigours of his constant attendance upon Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and his innumerable small but essential tasks, he could still find time to develop his artistic interests. This was only possible because of his deep urge to express himself through form and colour. Apart from dedicated service to the Master and the Mother, painting seems to have been his second love. This was an inborn capacity which grew in him and found scope for development in the Ashram.

Champaklal once showed the Mother one of his early attempts at drawing and asked: “How is it? Will I be able to learn?” The Mother replied, “To learn means months and months of study before any picture can be done; studies from nature, drawing first for a long time, painting only after.”

Champaklal again asked her after some months, “Is there any possibility in me of doing something creative or original in drawing? If so, what should I do?” “Go on doing,” the Mother said, “and it will come of itself at its own time. You are progressing rapidly.”

Sri Aurobindo also wrote of him once, “Champaklal has a natural talent already developed to an unusual degree.” Another time he wrote, “You have the capacity. You have only to be steady in your endeavour.”...

As a boy in Patan, Champaklal often copied from copy-books—perhaps from the Foster Series, which was common in those days. His copies of animal drawings from such books are still with us. At the age of twelve he passed a drawing examination conducted by the Government which even older boys failed; this confirms his interest and ability in drawing....

As we have already mentioned, Champaklal's best artistic period was in the 1930s. During this decade he made great progress in art. His beautiful paintings of lotuses and his fine still-life drawings and paintings were done at this time...

The second and final phase of Champaklal' s artistic work began in the 1950s. He saw an exhibition in the Ashram of paintings made with bright colours by a foreign visitor. They struck him as representing subtle realities behind the world we know. He thought to himself, “This is the type of pictures I have always wanted to paint. I have been waiting for an opportunity to paint them.” Champaklal had attempted once before with some free brush-work to realise his dream, but he had not succeeded. Then, long after this exhibition of boldly coloured paintings, he witnessed the technique of “marbling”. Here, he felt, was the method he had been waiting for, the medium he had not found so far. He set about experimenting with the technique by himself. After some trials on small bits of paper he saw the possibility of expressing his feelings and intuitions through marbling....

Champaklal used this challenging technique not with any fixed idea or superficial notion, but as a way of expressing the emotions and intimations which sprang from a deeper consciousness in him. He may not always have been conscious of what he was trying to achieve, but in some works at least he deliberately attempted to produce something which corresponded to his feelings or inner perceptions. In such cases he got the result only after many trials. Choosing colours, mixing them and giving movement to the water-surface was prompted mainly by his consciousness at the time.

At one stage Champaklal also did a number of graphic designs with colour pencils or felt-pens. These interesting designs have a spontaneity about them and are far from being conventional patterns or mere decorative motifs. There are also a few paintings in which Champaklal has attempted to translate his visions into form and colour. These have a boldness of colour and originality of conception so natural to him!

There was one special artistic duty which Champaklal had to perform, often on an urgent basis. On birthdays and other occasions, the Mother used to send to sadhaks and devotees, pictorial cards with her blessings and sometimes a personal message. It was Champaklal's duty to prepare these cards. It was his originality and artistic skill which made them very often unique in design. It became indeed a craft of skill in his hands and the Mother complimented him on a number of occasions. She even wrote, “Champaklal is an artist.” This work was not as simple as it may appear. It took hours of labour and ingenuity. At times, he had to make eight or ten such cards in one day. Can one imagine that he did this work, besides other things, for thirty years or more? On Champaklal's birthday in 1964, the Mother wrote:

To Champaklal
The great doer of cards
This card is to tell him my appreciation of all what he has done and my expectation for still better things to come.....

(Ref: Champaklal as an artist. 1st Edition. P: 13-22)