Bikaner: Raju Swami is painting a tree. Nothing extraordinary about that, until you look closely. Each tiny stroke of the brush brings a leaf to life on paper. Then comes another, and another... until there are thousands of them. Again, what's remarkable is that Swami is working on a canvas that is just a few inches wide.This is the art of miniature painting, where the smallest details demand the greatest patience. Over nearly four decades, Swami has mastered the Bikaner school of miniature painting – a centuries-old art form to which he has added his own distinctive botanical touch. Swami says the idea of placing leaves, flowers and trees at the centre of his paintings came from former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.The brushes used in this art are made from squirrel-tail hair. Swami is particularly proud of a painting that depicts a banyan tree. It is only when you look at it up close that the finer details can be appreciated – thousands of tiny leaves packed onto a sheet barely larger than a hand.Without magnification, the scale of the work is almost impossible to comprehend. The intricate botanical style has also opened a new artistic interest for those working alongside Swami. He is now working towards creating even more leaves on the same-sized sheet of paper, with plans to attempt a Guinness World Record in the future.
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