Daddy knows best
The camaraderie between the father-daughter duo of artists Fawad and Afza Tamkanat is fun to watch. They are like best friends who are always looking out for each other.
It was in Class II that Afza decided to become an artist and Fawad has encouraged her ever since. The indulgent dad didn’t even mind when his naughty child doodled on his finished paintings. “Kids are very spontaneous and natural. They are not bothered about being perfect. It’s when you grow up that you become conscious and rigidity sets in,” he says.
Proud of his little daughter’s etchings, Fawad came up with a family tradition. “Every year, for a month he would tell me to do around 100 sketches. He would then choose the one he liked best and send it off for printing,” recalls Afza. The image would then be used on the New Year greeting card that the Tamkanats sent to their friends. But once Afza turned 14, Fawad decided to do away with the tradition because he felt that his daughter was becoming conscious about her work.
Influenced by her father’s paintings, Afza specialises in self-portraits. The only man she paints is her dad. “That is because the subject is always around and I pose patiently,” jokes Fawad, as Afza complains, “He never sits patiently. He is always talking and checking to see if I’m getting him right!”
“She feels I am trying to interfere in her work,” admits Fawad, as Afza quickly adds, “Once I decided to take his advice on a painting. It turned out be a copy of his.”
Since the time Afza was a teenager, Fawad took her along for shows and meetings with gallery owners, “so that she could observe how to deal with gallery owners and learn how to exhibit.”
Like all youngsters, Afza was more interested in shopping in different cities. “I would tell him let’s shop first and then to the galleries,” she says. On their holiday to Bali, Fawad was only interested in doing ‘arty’ things with his daughter, but she insisted on water-sports at the beach. Paragliding turned out to be quite an experience for Fawad. He didn’t know how to get back on the ground! “My daughter and wife landed properly. I just drifted elsewhere,” he recalls.
“He keeps getting lost. That is his thing. It’s the same even when he is driving. He is with you for two minutes and then his mind begins to wander,” shares Afza. “That is because I am an artist always thinking about my work,” Fawad retorts. Luckily, he always has his daughter looking out for him just the way he’s always been there for her.
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