: 95-YO Award-Winning Granny Uses a Power Drill to Carve Her 500 Acrylic Masterpieces #IndiaNEWS #Inspirational There’s something so warm and comforting in conversing with senior citizens. Their

95-YO Award-Winning Granny Uses a Power Drill to Carve Her 500 Acrylic Masterpieces #IndiaNEWS #Inspirational
There’s something so warm and comforting in conversing with senior citizens. Their experience, anecdotes and the life lessons that they impart is better than any self-help book one can find.
I got the opportunity to speak with 95-year-old national award winning acrylic carving artist – Nalini Vinay Mehta. In a voice that will almost immediately put you at ease, she says, “Come home and see me, won’t that be better than having this conversation via the telephone. ??? I promise to visit her when I visit Mumbai next and she’s happy with that. Her son, Anuj Mehta, with whom she resides speaks to me and answers my questions on behalf of his aged mother.
Anuj describes her as a “born artist???. He says, “She is not formally trained in art but that has never stopped her from dabbling in every possible medium of art. From sculpting, painting, batik, etc. ???

An MA in Economics, a young Nalini accompanied her husband to the US in 1945, which was, perhaps, one of the turning points in her life.
In exploring a formal arts course, she enrolled at the Pratt Institute for Commercial Art in New York City for a workshop where she had the opportunity to work on developing her skill. Anuj says, “Being there gave her a chance to actually work on her art and explore various mediums. ???
Plastic Sheets & A Drill
Nalini Vinay Mehta
Around the time Nalini was looking for innovative material to use, she stumbled upon acrylic. Acrylic plastic, also referred to as transparent plastic, was used extensively during World War II to make aircraft windshields, as glass windshields would shatter with explosions. By the end of the war, the US was flooded with leftover acrylic with little use.
Spotting the shiny crystal-like material at a shop which was selling them for a few cents one day, Anuj says, “It was sheer inquisitiveness that led her to buy the material, bring it home and experiment with it. ??? This art form that Nalini started to dabble in was not just unique but a very intricate one which uses acrylic sheets as canvases and a drill as a paintbrush.
It is described as ‘true-to-life reverse sculpture’, and is impossible to make out in any other medium.

Nalini adds here, “Having tried various different art forms, seeing this new form really got me enthused. I tried to carve my first piece with three roses. To add colour to my work, I used an eye dropper to fill in the colours. I remember how appreciative my husband was and it was his encouragement that pushed me to try more designs. I was doing something new. No one has seen something like it before. ???
Nalini’s adventures in the US extended beyond art.