Talent resurfaces

Creating wonders with flowers and chocolates

Artistic expression has taken centrestage once again in Kapila Trivedi's life after a lull of over 25 years. Trivedi, a resident of Dubai, now expresses herself through flower arrangements and chocolate gift hampers she helps produce every day at her workshop called Blue Crystal Gifts LLC in Dubai. She also does oil, ceramic and foil painting and excels in making colourful rangoli designs.

For making chocolate hampers, she mixes traditional Indian art with western trends. The Japanese flower arrangement technique is used to arrange flowers. Her paintings rely on intricate designs and striking colour combinations with perfection of style. "I can work for days together non-stop once I am involved in work," says Trivedi.

Aluminum foil painting as well as her other works stretch across the walls of her tastefully decorated home. She is largely self-taught, not having trained at any conventional art school.

After passing preliminary and intermediate in drawing she pursued her interests from home.
Other than dabbling in a few paintings for friends, it never occurred to her to make a name for herself as duties of a homemaker kept her occupied.

Last year, a friend asked her to make some flower arrangements for her gift shop which got her creative juices flowing all over again.

She now handles a business of her own, visualising new concepts at her workshop for artificial and dry flower arrangements and making various designs of chocolate gift hampers for every occasion. "I was once asked to make 60 gift chocolate hampers by a would-be grandmother who asked me to wait till the baby was born," says Trivedi.

"A few days later I had to make them in a hurry, all with blue laces and ribbons for the new born baby boy," she laughs.

She supplies her products to various supermarkets, petrol stations and hospitals. Her powerful pictures are mellowed now, though expressions of life are more intense. She hopes to exhibit her works some day.