The artist in you lives forever
Mr. Ashok Mahadik, 78, is a sensational artist and his journey is truly inspiring. He started his colourful journey in 10th grade when he participated in a rangoli making competition without having any prior experience and ended up making a 12×15 inch rangoli. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice to Mr. Rajaram Hadkar who used to make exquisite Ganpati idols in Dadar. In the late 1970s, he joined an advertising agency called Interpub as a visualiser. After a couple of years, he started working for the renowned agency, Frank Simoes in the early 1980s. He got the opportunity to work on many interesting logo making projects like Mahindra’s logo and Hindustan Petroleum logo. In those times, logo making was highly essential for any brand hence, a few years later, he started his own freelancing agency where he made company logos and exclusive merchandise. Artistically speaking, Mr. Mahadik best enjoys Staedtler Pencil Colour Sketches. As years passed, he perfected his pencil colour sketches and started showing interest in making best out of waste artifacts. In the year 2011, he got a wooden cabinet made for his Dombivali house. He made a beautiful tree out of the wooden shavings and other remains of the wooden cabinet. Then he started making unconventional things like landscapes using knitting wool, big-sized mirrors out of windows, painting of waves made with medical sticky tape, drawings out of sealing wax, innovative lanterns, oil paintings, etc. His friends and relatives used to commission art pieces from him. When he was assigned something, he didn’t stop till it was done.
“People never inspired me, my surroundings and the changing times did”, said Mr. Mahadik. ‘Think outside the box’ was his forte and through his art he could truly express himself. He found a tough critic in his son, Mr. Mitesh Mahadik and that made him realise that the best way an artist can push himself is by having a strong critic by his side. In the year 2016, he went through a cataract eye operation due to which he couldn’t watch TV or spend time sketching. Making the best out of the situation, he composed a Marathi poem called “Motibindu”. He substituted his brush for a pen. As Mr. Mahadik started writing poems, he was skeptical about his talent at first. A famous Marathi poet gave him the confidence and motivated him to write more of them. Few years later, he participated in Akhil Bhartiya Kavi Sammelan where he recited his poem “The world from above”. After being a successful artist, he now plans to publish his poems in a book as well. From commercial designing to best out of waste, commissioned art pieces to beautiful poems, he has done it all. Age is truly just a number and the artist in you lives forever indeed.
-Isha Koli