Motley the dog greets you when you walk into the compound inArpora, covered with damp grass. After he gives you the once over and certifiesyou as a friendly face, Shireen Mody and Saffron Wiehl settle down and talkabout their work. This mother-daughter duo is peculiar, in a good way. Bothartists, they each have their preferred mediums and each has been a uniquejourney. “I came to Goa in the early eighties, after leaving my job in London.I had no training in art but I knew that it was what I wanted to do,” saysShireen. Her daughter Saffron had the advantage of growing up around canvas andacrylic paint, often borrowing a small piece of canvas to paint paddy fields.Shireen tells her daughter, “I still have some of your paintings of paddyfields in a magazine somewhere.”
Saffron moved away from canvas and acrylic, studied fashiondesign, then did a course in commercial illustration and now has her own styleof illustration, with the feminine form as a deep source of inspiration. “I lovethe feminine form and I usually incorporate it into my work, but mum suggestedthat I take a break from it for a bit and try something different,” Saffronexplains. The knowledge sharing goes both ways, but not without the occasionaltug of war, as is the wont of two creative minds.
Shireen helps her daughter with the technicalities and thefiner nuances of her work. “I pushed for a few things and it eventually worked.Saffron has to always fight me in the beginning,” she says with a grin. Saffronpipes in, “I don’t fight you.” Then by way of explanation, adds, “One’s Ariesand the other Scorpio, so there are a few tussles.” Criticism isn’t always acreative person’s best friend but Shireen thinks that there are advantages toconstructive criticism, especially from laymen, who have no connection to artbut often see things that an artist wouldn’t. “I’ve often received an astuteobservation from them. One of my best critics, however, is Saffron. She’s got awonderful eye for composition.” Saffron, on the other hand, admits that shedoesn’t always respond well to criticism.
Shireen’s annual exhibition, held at her Arpora house, nowfeatures Saffron’s work as well. When it comes to painting just over a dozencanvases a year, Shireen’s prep is different. Palettes are specific andlimited, her research and experiments with a theme go on for longer. At the endof it all, the end product speaks for itself. Saffron’s prints are obviouslydifferent, incorporating flowers, creatures of the sea, intertwined with the feminineform.
At the end of it all, one has honed her skills and built afoundation based on experience and knowledge, while the other is working oncreating a legacy and figuring out the journey, both artists come together tocelebrate art. No matter the creative difference, it’s the mother and daughterthat end the day together.
