Mysuru: To lend creativity to the ideas that form in the mind and bring it out in art form is a talent very few people possess. One such artiste who is giving his creative juices a free run is city’s Sri Paramahamsa Vidyaniketana School teacher M. Nagaraj.

He has been selected to display his artworks at the State-level artwork (Chitrakala) competition organised in Bengaluru on Jan.11. Already he has participated in several artwork competitions and   won prizes.

Nagaraj, an M.Sc Post-Graduate degree holder, is working as drawing teacher at Sri Paramahamsa Vidyaniketana School near Sankranthi Circle in Hebbal.

He is originally from T. Narasipur taluk’s Sosale village and presently a resident of Hebbal. Son of Mahadev Achar and Puttathayamma, he has a brother Manju and sister Mangala.

Father’s influence: Nagaraj has been influenced by his father Mahadev Achar who works on wood. Seeing him doing wood carving, Nagaraj started drawing from the age of 12 and since then has done several artworks. Later, he used to display his works at the School drawing competitions.

Through his creative output, he came with works using  rangoli (chalk powder) drawing peacock, India Map and other themes which drew the appreciation of the people.

Besides he used salt and paint as a medium and came out with peacock, school logos, India and Karnataka maps and also the Red Fort during Republic Day celebration in his school, which again came in for praise.

Creating awareness about breast cancer: The breast cancer among women is increasing because of the types of dresses they wear and also the food they consume. To create awareness about this, Nagaraj has drawn on this theme also and it is being currently displayed at the Dasara Exhibition.

He is also adept at line drawing, traditional art, creative painting, portrait drawing, clay models, model of Taj Mahal using thermocol, Doddagadiyara, Krishna in dots are some of the works he has displayed.

Nagaraj has won several awards and was awarded the Best Model Teacher besides winning accolades in Mandya, Mysuru and Bengaluru.