The first idea for the painting "Lakshmi on the Lotus Throne" came to Ananda on January 16th, 2015. She had the whole plan in her mind: the exact size of the painting – 2m x 1,80m – the material – gemstone powder & gold powder – and the subject and design: Lakshmi on the lotus-throne.
In February 2017 Ananda travelled to Jaipur and learned the technique of gemstone-painting from a very good and renowned painter, Sunish Maru and his wife. It was a very interesting and inspiring time for her – artistically and personally. They became good friends.
Back home, Ananda pondered the technical ways to create such a big gemstone-painting. This is not easy – as it is not a usual size. Most gemstone paintings are only up to maximum 60 or 80 cm big. During the work process one has to turn them around after every step, as one works from the back and wants to see It from the front. So she designed a big working scaffold, which one could turn around.
This scaffold and a work-bank, on which one could lie over the painting and work on it, got built. They had to lie over the painting and paint it from the back – everything reversed – and to lie under the table to see it from the front! So they had their colour-conferences lying under the table:
In beginning of 2018 Ananda made the design. She invited Vera Atlantia into the project and in March they started to work on the painting.
First they had to transfer the design on the acrylic sheet with gold-powder. Then they could start the actual painting. One applies fluid glue in an area and strews Gemstone powder over it. Later one turns the painting around and the rest of the powder falls off.
This is not only the biggest gemstone-painting, but also the only one which is transparent.
Usually gemstone paintings are not made transparent, because especially the hands, arms & face are done with a very fine powder. One cannot control how the powder falls on any given area. It always falls a little irregular – in some places thicker or thinner. Then one phenomenon happens: If you look at such a face lit up from the back, you will see all the irregularities or spots on the skin, which look like skin blemishes or pimples. This is of course unacceptable. When you hold a paper behind the glass, you cannot see the spots. It looks even. For this reason, people don’t do transparent gemstone-paintings.
They tried it anyway. A few times the skin-color from Lakshmis face, arms, neck and feet had to be removed very carefully and they had to try it again. During the week when Ananda painted the face of the Goddess, the artists went into silence and were totally concentrated on the working process. For this one needs some skill … and a lot of luck! Ananda believes it may have been 20 % skill and 80 % good fortune, that the face, arms and feet became so even and smooth…
Making of Lakshmi on the Lotus Throne
The painting was finished after around 1 year- end of 2018. After it was finished, a lightbox was built, into which it got fixed, with LED lamps in the back. The painting itself has a weight of around 200 kg, with the lightbox it is 300 kg and it needs 6 men to lift it!
Then different light-shows were created for projection: colourful light-rays, fireworks, glitter, stars and moving galaxies… – the possibilities are infinite. In the evening, if this is the only source of light in the room, it is particularly impressive.
During an unveiling event in January 2019, the painting was shown to the public for the first time. When the light-show started, a groan of wonder & amazement went through the crowd!
Now the painting can be seen in many different ways:
- Either lit up from the front
- Or lit up from behind – with different strength of light or effects
- Or with a light-show projected on it! This gives it innumerable different fascinating appearances…
Info about buying the Painting & Contact
Thank you for your interest. If you want to buy "Lakshmi on the Lotus Throne", or wish to commission a big gemstone-painting please contact the artist:
