Visitors sift through postcards of Mamata Banerjee’s paintings at Galerie 88 on Wednesday. (Amit Datta)

Mamata Banerjee’s exhibition of 98 of her recent paintings at Galerie 88 may have been a sell-out — grossing Rs 2 crore since Monday — but she is still quite the unassuming artist.

“I am not a painter. I cannot paint and draw. It is a casual approach…. creativity and nothing else. It’s a small attempt. If people like it, then I am happy,” Mamata at her self-deprecatory best told a news conference at her Kalighat residence on Wednesday, in between creating more canvases to meet the growing demand at the gallery.

Instead of donning an apron, Mamata had wrapped a shawl while working on five more paintings for industrialists who had gone empty handed from the gallery. Sanjiv Goenka of the RPG Group wanted more than the single painting he bought on Wednesday, but there were no leftovers. Sanjay Budhia did not get even a single one. R.S Goenka and R.S. Agarwal, joint chairmen of the Emami Group, invested in two Mamataa (she signs her canvases with an extra “a”, perhaps to boost the flow of creative juices) works.

She explained why she went in for this exhibition: “Ours is a small party. We didn’t want to go to other people asking for money. I prefer state funding of elections. The day it happens I will be happiest. We are a party of common people and they like to help us. Out of the 28 books that I have penned some have become bestsellers. Funds have gone to the party. From this exhibition, too, the funds raised will go to the bank and then used for our campaign.”

Mamata may not have artistic pretensions, but trust her to be aware of the possibilities of her art.

“Orders are coming. The paintings have all been sold out. Before leaving for Durgapur, I came home from the padayatra and painted. After coming home last night, I again painted. In between all the work, despite the busy schedule, I have to paint. I was painting; so I had to put this (the shawl) on. There were picture postcards of the paintings, which are also exhausted. Those who can’t buy the paintings can buy the postcards,” she said.

Sure enough, Rs 1 lakh worth of postcards of Mamata’s paintings — priced at Rs 10 each — were sold on Wednesday. The exhibition has been extended till Thursday, for which orders have been placed for 30,000 more postcards. Among the buyers on Wednesday were three young art students, who bought about 500 postcards, and a schoolteacher, who was carrying Rs 10,000 to pick up souvenirs for relatives.

Among the many people who dropped by at the gallery was Sumantra Chowdhury, who recently retired as state transport secretary. “I usually don’t like gaudy colours but look at the energy of these shades,” he gushed, pointing to the strident colours of Mamata(a)’s paintings.

“Just look at those strokes. Didi paints at lightning speed,” said a young art lover.