Art for me brings back terrible childhood memories. Once I was called to the blackboard to draw a cat chasing a mouse (for what reason, I don’t recall). I drew my masterpiece while the teacher was teaching and stepped back with a flourish to admire my work. That’s when  I started hearing the sniggers and chuckles in the class. When I turned around, I realised the sniggers were directed towards me and my work and my classmates (and my teacher!) instead of admiring my work were making fun of me! Yes, Art was a tough class for me. I was reprimanded for colouring outside the lines, I was made fun of in Art class constantly, and I was even chided for once colouring the sky pink and clouds yellow!
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So I gave up on it. And years later only admired the work of famous artists in museums around the world and secretly hoped I could draw a  masterpiece and redeem my younger self. Flying Tricycle is the kind of workshop my younger self needed and would have appreciated a lot!
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Flying Tricycle is an organisation started by three women in Mumbai that designs art and design workshops for children and adults.
Their main purpose is to counter “art as perfectly drawn neat pictures” and redefine the process thereby allowing the artist to think laterally and evolve their own style and expression.
The force behind Flying Tricycle
Madhumita Nandi Srivastava, Rachana Devidayal Shah, and Anika Gupta Goenka – remember these names because they are the ladies at the helm of Flying Tricycle. It wasn’t just their shared love for art and design that brought them together, but the fact that all three of them have degrees in art and design from highly reputed colleges in the United States and impressive work experience too! They started talking, last November, Â about how art education is stuck in the dark ages in India and the complete lack of holistic art and design education available for children in the country and that’s when they thought why not start an organisation of our own! Flying Tricycle was born out of that thought and has till date helped change the way parents and kids perceive an art class. Here’s a hint: forget sketching, tracing, painful drawings of mountains and huts – this is an art class that has kept up with the changing times, has a global flair, and definitely understands what kids will love!
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So, what does an art class at Flying Tricycle look like?Â
Imagine your child coming back home and talking about Vincent Van Gogh, Marc Chagall, and maybe even the works of Frida Kahlo as casually as they would talk about what they did in school that day? Flying Tricycle makes that happen! One of their most popular (and early exercises) is to have the students work in pairs where they trace each other’s head and then they make quick visual representations by looking at each other. They are then shown works by great artists who have created portraits. The kids are then given a box full of odds and ends like buttons, feathers, bangles, wool, even fast cooking noodles and asked to make their mixed media masterpiece!
Kids at their art workshops will seek inspiration and learn about Picasso, Matisse, Rembrandt all while learning about colour mixing in a ‘dog-in-the-bone’ style game! Suffice to say your child will not learn how to make pointy hills with the sun peaking out in between while ‘V’ shaped crows fly across the azure skies. They will learn to create art beyond fluffy trees and puffy clouds. They will learn about exploring canvas beyond paper, learn to mix colours to create new hues, and even begin thinking creatively after they see works of great artists!
What else besides workshops?Â
- It’s a Small World at CSMVS
Flying Tricycle recently took art beyond the classroom and conducted a fun workshop at Mumbai’s Prince of Wales Museum (CSMVS). Participants sought inspiration from the miniature art on display at the museum and recreated an exciting day in their life! Then they used colour and scale to create drama and were even encouraged to use foliage to add a layer of texture to their pictures!
2. Field of Flowers at Alibaug
If you are thinking these workshops are only in Mumbai, think again. Art can be anywhere and that’s what they tried to prove with this workshop at Alibaug. Kids got to commune with nature, picked flowers for inspiration and then created a field of flowers!
How many sessions in a workshop?
Format:Â 8 sessions + 1 surprise session
Must be on your events list with locations!
- Bandra(W): 1st Floor, St.Peter’s KG, Ranwar Village, Bandra West.
Starting from 13th Feb; every Friday - Kala Ghoda: 1st Floor, Arbor Research Initiatives, Karim Chambers (Theobroma building behind Kandeel Restaurant), Ambalal Doshi Marg, Kala Ghoda, Fort.
Starting from 24th Feb; every Friday - Scroll Down at CSMVS:Â On 25th February from 11 am – 1 pm.
Ages:Â 6-9 years.
No previous knowledge is required for the class, but an active imagination and a desire to create is needed.
Fee: Rs.5500 (includes tax and all art material)
To register:Â Email at [email protected]
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Mansi Zaveri
KSP Team
