The time has come around for creative artists in our country to display their work at the annual Kala Pola which comes alive on Sunday February 24.
This one-day fascination has always been a must for those who are art addicts and even for those who are on the borderline of addicts. Every year the participating artists have increased and Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha takes on a colourful and festive mood that is hard to beat.
One of the artists who will be presenting his art work will be Jagath K.G. Punchihewa a veteran artist who has taken part in the Kala Pola for the past two decades.
As he tells us this year he will be presenting at his stall Punchi Palette more than 100 water colour cartoons (35 cm-27 cm) and acryllic cartoons (58 cm – 43 cm) which will include some of his cartoons titled “Pregnant Prosperity”, “Easy to Talk”, “Hard to Work”, “Old Habits Die Hard”. All the captions for his cartoons were written by Kalabhushana R.S. Karunaratne. Apart from these cartoons, Jagath Punchihewa tell us that he intends exhibiting 100 mini cartoons (23 cm – 16 cm).
In cartoon media Jagath Punchihewa is no stranger. A past pupil of St.Anne’s College, Kurunegala, his artistic talents were discovered and nurtured by his art teacher C.B. Katupitiya. Driven by his own keenness, he pursued his art studies diligently and was adjudged one of the three best artists of the school.
When he finished with school he worked at the Sunday Observer Editorial and also made a name for himself as a prominent illustrator. His colourful illustrations adorn the children’s books written by Prof. J.B. Dissanayake and Kalabhushana R.S. Karunaratne.
Looking back on his career Punchihewa remarked that he is happy he held a successful exhibition of cartoons and “on the spot caricatures” at the Hermitage Art Gallery in 2002 and looks forward to another successful participation in this year’s Kala Pola.