Art evolves every day and today we see art being done on so many platforms. The way art is portrayed on different mediums today is commendable. Hand Painted fashion today is blooming amongst youngsters and In Goa, there are a few artists who not just hand paint the designs that are attractive, but also customise based on their customer’s needs. Pintado Goa, a hand painted shoe store in Panjim, hand paints shoes of different sizes. Pintado translates to Painted in Portuguese. Pintado has a team of artists that deal with customizable hand painted shoes, so ever shoes made is based on the customers need, choice or design. This can be challenging in a number of ways as customers sometimes just hand over a picture or design they have in mind and they work along with that and the other times they hand over a theme, colour preference based on which the artists come up with numerous designs, ultimately showing the customer and once they choose it, the artists begin to paint the shoes. Pintado manufactures their own shoes and uses long lasting washable paints. “Ever shoes in unique as per the customer’s choice of design” says Alicia Fernandes who is an Artist as well as the Social Media Marketer for Pintado.

Each item takes about two to five days to paint depending on the design and detailing required. Pintado has their customers ranging from different age groups, mainly being the ones who are ‘fashion lovers and trendy people.’ Hand Painting as interesting as it sounds isn’t as easy job to do, “One of the most challenging tasks for me so far, was to complete the orders while my exams were around the corner!” says Henita an artist at Pintado. Giving more insight about how it was a challenge she says “We usually get one pair at a time but once I got one pair back to back, with two completely different designs to work on. And I had my exams approaching. My Ma’am needed the pair urgently since the client was from Bengal and she was going back the next day, so it was really hectic to balance both things.” Pintado usually markets their work on their Instagram handles namely – pintadogoa and crochetworld_goa

Some interests carry forward from observing your dear ones, for Alexandra it is her mother. “I’ve always had a lot of interest in art with my mom being an artist as well. And I’ve also had interest in Fashion as well so combining the two together, I worked on the concept of hand painted clothing.” Alexandra works on different items like Jackets, T-shirts, Scarves, Denim, Shorts and much more. Most of her designs have been *inspired by* or have a vibe of boho, pop art and music. She has been working on her label for the past two years now and specializes in Hand painting, since she started off her orders have increased and now, she is busy with her work almost every day. The materials used are sourced within Goa, sometimes from Mumbai and from other places as well. As of now, she does all the painting by herself. Painting each item depends on the amount of work, it can be anything from a few hours to an entire day. Her customers vary from the age of 18 to 40 both men and women, as for her mom deals with kids wear.  Alexandra promotes her work on Social Media as well showcasing her work at exhibitions and the pricing of the product is based on the clientele requirements.

Currently she is working on “The Revamp Project” wherein she revamps old clothing to give them a new look, “Most of the work in this project shall include hand panting and I will also be customizing based on each individual liking.” The quirkiest request so far that she has received is hand painting a snake over a black jumpsuit (that was also done by her) giving the illusion of a snake wrapped around the body. On asking what does hand painted fashion means to her, she says “It’s a way of expressing through art on a canvas I absolutely love – clothing. Not only does it become personal and it is customised based on the client’s needs and liking, but it is also something they will be wearing for a long time.”

“Creativity has no limits. It can flow on any medium from stones to paper and that is exactly what I do, Give me anything and I shall treat it as everything that I have.” says Vedanka Phadte who has had keen interest in art since a very young age. Although, experimenting with fabrics started when she in 11^th Grade, she had the required skills to paint but the medium to paint was new. After which one day, she came across the Levi’s page where they’ve showcased hand painted denims and that inspired her a lot, making her do much better in the same. Hand painting on items and then being recognised that it is her work gives her the sense of achievement and happiness by creating a style of her own and then building her identity on the same. “Mediums change but an artist has to be confident working on any given medium. Vedanka isn’t a professional artist and she is still trying to find different mediums to express and freeze her thoughts, she only paints when someone requests her too and the people who genuinely appreciate art and the efforts and thought put into the same.

She normally uses Fabric Paints, Fevicryl, Acrylics and experiment with other kind of paints as well.  She hasn’t gone commercial yet as she feels this can affect her creativity which she doesn’t want to happen. “It depends on the complexity of the concept behind the design.” Says Vedanka on asking about how much time approximately does it take to finish painting an item, she works alone as she can do her work better. She promotes her work on her Instagram handle @vedanka17, since she hasn’t gone commercial she works only when someone requests, with no fee and what makes vedanka different from other artists is that she can work on literally anything; from leaf, stone to denim and mobile covers! Sometimes it doesn’t work but I don’t think about it failing as my intentions are purely to make it work.” Vedanka loves designing clothes and everything being so mainstream she wants to be an out of the box artist, posing the question ‘Why does art need to be limited only to paper?’ she says, “I would love to be a chalta phirta canvas!”

Terracotta Jewellery is very delicate and intricate. Pratiksha Mundye works on terracotta jewellery and has her business based on the same called as ‘Sringar.’ She was very inclined towards creative work, be it craft, painting or needle work. Post her diploma in Fashion Designing from NIFT Hyderabad, she returned to Goa to start her own fashion boutique. Along with that she also ventured into designing and manufacturing of terracotta jewellery as she always had a strong penchant for hand crafted jewellery which drew her towards the manufacturing of terracotta jewellery. Instead of machine-made jewellery, Pratiksha has always preferred eco-friendly handmade terracotta jewellery.

“Terracotta Jewellery is a traditional art form and the best part of it is, it suits any attire. Although it looks more elegant with a sari or any ethnic wear” says Pratiksha. She first started in the first quarter of 2018, the initial months were of just thorough research about acquiring the best raw material, studying about manufacturing process, designing, and most importantly the potential market for selling. When she felt confident about her final product. She got her business module ready and went commercial in January 2019. Going with the trend initially she used social media very effectively for the publicity, participated in exhibitions all over Goa, Mumbai and Pune. Thus ‘Sringar Jewellery’ commenced, the idea of handmade terracotta fashion jewellery which wasn’t very popular in Goa got an overwhelming response from the women here.

On asking how long does it take to paint each time, she says “After the drying and baking the whole necklace set which includes pendants, beads and earrings it is painted separately which generally takes about 4 to 5 hours for painting and full 2 days for drying. Then it must be assembled together. The whole process generally takes 8 days for a whole neck set to get ready.” Her orders have increased many folds since she started. She has recently made a client base in 4 countries that is UK, US, Malaysia and Singapore along with her clients in Goa and India. On an average she sells around 35 to 40 neck sets per month. She uses a specially sourced clay made for terracotta jewellery only, which is different from the packaged clay available in the art shops.

This clay doesn’t crack very easily during the baking or drying process and holds the colour firmly giving it an elegant look. Acrylic colours available in the market that are used for painting the jewellery. Her clients vary from age groups starting from 14 to 70 years. “We have got an overwhelming response especially among the elite class and professionals. It is widely worn by college girls to office going ladies too. I should say, our Jewellery is popular among all groups. “says Pratiksha. She has employed a couple of local Goan women who help me in making beads and basics shapes of the pendants, although all the designs and concept of the necklace is hers. On asking if she gets a quirky request, she says “I get requests for specialised shapes or colours to match the client’s outfit or occasion.”