Strokes & Verses is an environmentally conscious startup in Chandigarh which is steeped in eco-friendly crafts, arts, utility products, and wearables, for a greener and sustainable planet. The founder is Balpreet Kaur, who likes to call herself a ‘full-time’ artist and is also a healthcare administrator equipped with an MHA degree. She has worked with Fortis Hospital, Mohali, as a healthcare administrator in their Covid vaccination project in 2020 – 2021.
She been practising art since childhood and till date, she has involved herself in different projects, making art commercial, for common people and corporate companies also.
Earlier, she owned a workshop and an outlet for clothing, called ‘Xpressions’ in Yamunanagar, Haryana. On moving to Chandigarh, she opened an outlet ‘The Wardrobe’, which is more focused on designer clothing. CityWoofer explored more about Balpreet Kaur and her art.
How did you come up with this unique name?
We strive to be good stewards of the planet leaving no carbon footprint and working with utmost thoughtfulness and consciousness. The name ‘Strokes and Verses’ came to me almost instantly when I decided to showcase my art. My life has always revolved around art. As a child, I would often look up to gazing at magazines and admire the art, patterns and architecture printed on their glossy pages.
Have you been into art work since childhood?
I had an introduction to paints and brushes in my childhood. I have lived all my life with colours, brushes, colour strokes, and blank canvases waiting to be painted. As a child, I was a daydreamer. Imagining and visualising things added fuel to the fire in me. I spent my free time (in fact, still do) as a keen observer — sitting near the window of my first-floor house which was situated near the market. Everything inspired me- people, traffic jams, festivals, anything.
With the passage of time, I also developed a nomadic mindset which helped me to create art more freely. Whenever I travel across different cultures, landscapes, languages, and wildlife, I find myself becoming more flexible to create what I perceive.
What was the moment that enlightened you?
One day, while flipping through a magazine from the USSR (before disintegration), vibrant red flowers caught my eye. I was looking at a beautiful poster, its cool grey background made the flowers pop, and I instantly knew that parting with this surge of vibrant energy wasn’t an option.
I reproduced those flowers in a painting and in the process added a bit of my personal touch to translate all the emotions. I got that painting framed, and for years it served as a reminder that art is my permanent refuge.
The real push to make Strokes and Verses a reality came when I successfully reproduced ‘The Last Supper’ by ‘Leonardo da Vinci’. The journey of reproducing this complex and breathtaking piece of art was not an easy one. I spent weeks with my canvas and oil paints, often painting till 3 am.
What art forms do you practise?
As we create hand-painted customized, decorative, utility-based and wearable art, so we practise fine arts, visual arts, and decorative art, which requires painting, which can be oil/ acrylic/fabric/ watercolour/ mixed media.
What is the vision for your brand?
We customise the strokes of our brushes to fit our client’s vision. We wish to provide aptly crafted and designed products for a green planet, with utmost care for the environment around us.
What is the price range of your products?
My products are available both in premium and affordable ranges. The price of the product depends on the work on an art piece. We carefully create an art piece which people can afford too.
You also give art classes. Can you tell us a bit about what you teach and the charges?
I have an art studio in the premises of my house, where we create art and take drawing and painting classes also. We take both group and individual classes depending upon the interest of the student. Our basic charges for learning drawing and painting are ₹ 5000/- for 10 classes. Mostly our charges depend on the kind of art a student wants to learn. We are going to introduce some new art forms also like the art of upcycling, which uses the technique of Decoupage.
What are your future plans?
In future, I hope to collaborate with talented artists and creators around the globe. My upcoming series is in collaboration with a home decor brand called, ‘The Moss’. The series is intensely spiritual and each piece is a depiction of the awakened form of one of the ‘seven chakras’ in our body.
I am currently working with co-authors on a collection of short fictional stories inspired by incidents and events from my life.
In the future we are going to launch our brand on Amazon. We are planning to expand our business by making available our products in countries like Australia in a collaboration with local art lovers.
Contact: 9501690208
Email :pbalpreet@gmail.com
Instagram: Strokes and Verses
