A visitor at the painting exhibition organised at BN Bariar Art Gallery in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Jan. 10: From Sita’s swayamvar to Yashoda’s love for Nandgopal, Anupam Raj, an amateur painter, beautifully merged mythology and emotions in her Madhubani artwork, on display at BN Bariar Art Gallery here today.

A total of 17 paintings by Anupam were put up on the first day of the six-day exhibition.

Anupam, wife of B.N. Bariar, also an artist, dedicated her maiden exhibition to her husband.

“I could not complete my fine arts degree course. I dedicated a lot of time to painting in the past two years. A few months ago, my husband pushed me to go for a solo exhibition of Madhubani paintings,” she said, adding that all the paintings on display at the exhibition were drawn over the past two years.

The painter showed no signs of nervousness on her maiden exhibition. “This was my first painting exhibition. Obviously, I am excited,” she said.

Anupam was a student of Ara Art College but she could not complete her course.

Her paintings depicted a wide array of colour combinations. She used watercolour, sketch pens and waterproof pens in her paintings.

The visitors at the exhibition were impressed with the artwork.

Sanjay Verma, a visitor, appreciated Anupam’s artistic skills. “I can’t believe that these are paintings of an amateur artist. Each painting is different and the colour combinations are very good,” he said, adding that Anupam’s work should inspire other housewives who have an artist hidden in them.

Anupam’s husband and the owner of the gallery, B.N. Bariar, said he was “very happy” with Anupam’s efforts. “The credit of this exhibition goes entirely to my wife. Each painting reflects her hard work,” he said.