Post-retirement, he continues to wield his brush with panache

LUDHIANA: The elderly often complain about being left with no work once they have retired. But that���s not the case with Parkash, 64, who is now happy that he finds enough time for what he has yearned for all his life- painting, reading, writing short stories and satires, which keep this young-at-heart artist who retired as a senior artist from a daily newspaper publication, busy these days.
Based in Chandigarh, Parkash is in the city for an exhibition titled ���Body and Beyond���, a collection of sketches and paintings at art gallery Artmosphere. He is different from artists who bind themselves with idioms or specific schools of painting.
It was difficult for him to associate himself with a particular style. He had inherited creative instinct from his father Avtar Singh Azad, a poet and journalist. Parkash recalls that he had started his career in Jalandhar around 1965.
It was in 1971-72 that some of his works were showcased by Lalit Kala Akademi���s national museum, he said.
Having participated in around a dozen national workshops, Parkash says the exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi was the beginning of a lifelong journey.
Having the calibre to raise the ordinary to the height of special and the known to the level of the metaphysical, Parkash is one who can easily cast the proverbial into novel, without giving the viewer the chance to raise any doubts.
Parkash reveals that he was never had any formal training in painting.
���A few of my paintings are in possession of Punjabi University Patiala and Panjab University Chandigarh,��� reveals Parkash, who has so far held seven solo exhibitions.
Having retired in 2006, he loves travelling extensively. ���I have travelled Europe and Canada apart from visiting different parts of India. During my visits abroad, I did paintings for individuals in Canada, England and USA,��� he revealed.
At an age when individuals are seen turning rigid in their thoughts and actions, Parkash loves experimenting and exploring. ���There are many possibilities and an artist needs to explore as many as he can,��� he said.