For Shehana Fathima, a 20-year-old engineering student from Thrikkakara, the evening of March 24 will always be memorable.

Just an hour before the Prime Minister announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown, the budding artist posted on Instagram a pencil sketch that portrayed two artistes serenading an eerily empty Spanish street from their balconies even as quarantined neighbours emerged on their balconies to enjoy the music.

The video of noted Spanish pianist Alberto Gestoso and saxophone player Alex Lebron Torrent performing Canadian singer Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On in the middle of March had gone viral.

Musicians take notice

The youngster was on cloud nine when hardly a couple of hours later she posted the image, both the musicians praised her work, with Mr. Torrent even promising to repost it from his Instagram account.

Later, the partner of one of the artistes also personally messaged her.

“The video was going around for a while, and that inspired me. It took me a day to complete the picture. Actually, I don’t know how to draw buildings, and I simply replicated the scene from the video,” said Ms. Shehana, a self-taught painter who is still basking in the glory of completely unexpected adulations.

Hoping to go further in the world of arts, she is now using the lockdown period to master digital drawing tools.

Other mediums

Having started with painting two years ago, the youngster has since then moved on to other mediums and a wider canvass.

“I plan to conduct an exhibition and even a workshop once I have enough collection of works,” Shehana Fathima said.

source: http//www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by M. P. Praveen / Kochi – April 10th, 2020