The infant was two days old when a visitor predicted  “He will be an artist.”

True to the prediction, Jayantha Silva became a child prodigy at drawing and colouring. “I was a child artist but when I grew up and began looking for a job, I thought there was no future in art. I worked as a commercial artist and started my own company “Impetus Limited” in 1981. But when business was bad, I thought I must try my hand at my childhood love. I myself was surprised that the artist in me had stuck on.”he recalled, adding, “For me, art is like meditation - all worries go out. My friends encouraged me and I do Figurative Art, drawing faces and portraits.”

His first exhibition at the Lionel Wendt was in 2003 where he displayed 30 paintings done in acrylic. “I was wondering if there was a demand for Figurative Art but I sold 2/3rd of my paintings. I asked an Art Connoisseur, Laki Pieris, from “Lanka Hands” to price my work and he marked the lowest painting at Rs.15,000 going up to Rs.35,000.

After that, there was no turning back. I have an exhibition each year and on 5th June 2015, I will hold a preview of my 12th Exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.” he said, adding, “I also had a small solo exhibition at the Gold Coast and another in Australia. The Sri Lanka Export Development Board sponsored me and sent me to New Delhi to a trade fair where I exhibited my work. It is now twelve years and I am known and it is very lucrative while giving me great pleasure to paint.”

Jayantha recalled that a lady had gone through the Internet and found his paintings and had come to Sri Lanka and she had come straight from the airport and bought twenty of his paintings. As a teenager, he had won first, second and fourth prizes in an art competition judged by Gate Mudaliya Amerasekera who gave Jayantha a scholarship to his art school but Jayantha said that he went there only twice as he felt that artists could not be taught. “But I was wrong.”he acknowledged. He said that thanks to commercial art, he developed patience, re-doing a work in soft pastel which had blown away.

What does he get out of painting?  “For me it is a tremendous satisfaction watching something materialise on a sheet of paper in front of me. Creating art can transport you to another world. For me, this has become a very addictive and rewarding ritual and I am just glad that so many others enjoy the result of this self-indulgence.” he replied, adding, “At my school, St.Peter’s College, I was known as an artist. I began with watercolours as a child but after twenty years, now in my forties, I use acrylic as well as charcoal and soft pastels. I can take one week to three months to do an art work. Now I get up at 2 a.m. and I draw and by 5 a.m. I am as fresh as ever.”

He also said he just draws pictures out of his head but acknowledges that he may have a photographic memory.

Jayantha Silva’s exhibition will be at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from 6th to 7th June 2015 from 10 a.m. For more information, visit his website www.artbyjayantha.com.

By Sirohmi Gunesekera