A child paints a wall and another looks on at the art workshop in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, May 7: Tiny hands learnt to paint on walls and decorate the house as well as the courtyards and verandahs at a unique art workshop hosted by Saswat Foundation for Contemporary Art that concluded on Wednesday.

Hosted in a natural ambience at the vast emu farm on Tankapani Road on the city outskirts, it was a lifetime experience not only for budding artists but their parents as well. Enjoying their summer vacations in a rural set up amidst orchards full of mango trees and tiny huts, chasing poultry birds, the 20-odd kids at the art workshop did not complain about spending their mornings outdoors.

“We were allowed to go around the farm and play with the emu, ducks and hen and pluck fruits from trees. The teachers asked us to enjoy nature and observe whatever we like best. This helped us choose our subjects,” said 12-year-old artist Ritika Sahoo.

After their tête-à-tête with nature, the kids picked up dried cow dung cakes and started making their favourite images that could be of a fruit, leaf, bird or friends at the camp. This transformed into a wall décor item and they started hanging them on the hut walls.

“The village atmosphere where the shades of trees make you forget fans and air-conditioners, seemed to have a great impact on the young artists. They expressed their feelings and experience very candidly on the canvas and the various other media that were available at the workshop,” said artist Satyabhama Majhi, the organiser of the workshop.