Bhubaneswar, Aug. 20: From dancing belles to mythical creatures to folklore — Rajendra Mishra of Puri only needs to pick up the nail and the hammer to bring stones alive.

Recognised nationally and globally for his expertise in the traditional Odishan pattern of stone carving, the 38-year-old artist is working on another masterpiece shaped like a turtle.

“It will have detailing of the Kachapa avatar of Lord Vishnu and minute statues all over the body and even on the hands and feet, showing various forms of the deity. A connoisseur in Germany has ordered it. It will be ready in another three months and fetch something close to Rs 2.5 lakh,” he said.

Rajendra started learning the art from his father Debendra, who, like his son, is also a national award-winning sculptor.

“I picked up the nuances of stone carving at the age of 15. My grandfather was a photographer during the freedom movement, and thus, I was initially inclined in collecting rare pictures, which I still have in my possession. But as I grew up, I found this art fascinating. We used to create idols for temples across the country. But with a little imagination and innovation, my works are now exported to Germany, America and many southeast Asian countries,” said the sculptor.

He has taken part in exhibitions in Spain, Netherlands, Dubai and Berlin, among other places.

In 2001, Rajendra won the national award for one of his sculptures that was based on tales of Lord Vishnu.

“The specialty of the work was that there were over 1,000 small statues inscribed on it that I had created. These were mostly dancing figurines in various poses, each of the height of a rice grain. While the viewers needed lens to see the details, I had made the statues without any help of machines or lenses,” said Mishra.

At present, the work is being showcased at an exhibition in Germany.

The artist, who resides at Kundeibenta Sahi, has been creating marvels over the past two decades on sandstone, granite, marble and other varieties of stones. He has received many laurels including the Kalamani Puraskar from the Haryana government and various awards from the state government.

The sculptor, however, laments that despite being a storehouse of talent, when it comes to stone art, artists of Odisha have to struggle to get stones. “Earlier, we used to have an abundance of the muguni variety of stone in our state. Now, for any kind of stone, we not only have to spend thousands, but also wait for months and are completely dependent on states such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Our government should intervene and help us or it is becoming difficult for us to preserve our traditional art. Many are choosing other professions for this reason,” he said.