In the 16th century, Renaissance Italian artist, Michael Angelo, stood on scaffolding to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. (This is the truth contrary to the popular belief that he lay on his back to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling).
Portrait of Adam
Artists through the ages have used this method to paint on high. Recently, a 21st century Sri Lankan female artist stood on scaffolding to paint a ceiling in one of Colombo’s elite restaurants, the Via Torino in Borella. The artist was none other than Shamen Walker who is currently making a great impact on the Sri Lankan world of art.
Walker was commissioned to complete a drawing done by an artist earlier. “It just fell into my lap halfway,” said Shamen. Painting a ceiling standing on scaffolding is no easy task especially for a woman. However, courageous and enterprising Shamen Walker loves a challenge and she went straight ahead and executed the difficult task. ‘It was hard to balance on scaffolding and keep my head up to look at the ceiling,” Shamen said. It took her 45 days to complete the task.
She concentrated on her painting of the creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden dexterously wielding brushes and sometimes even using her fingers to get the desired effect. When completed, Walker’s Adam was truly breathtaking.
Walker’s subtle use of colouring, especially the colouring of the skin enhances the natural look of her subjects. During our conversation, Shamen stressed on the importance of skin colouring.
Acclamation
Her work on Via Torino’s Adam brought Shamen Walker well deserved accolades and more commissions. Be it on social media or among visitors to Via Torino it was acclamation all round for Shamen Walker. Her courage and talent had truly paid off.
It can be said that beauty was there from birth in Shamen Walker’s life for she was born in the rural beauty of Bandaragama. The area was blessed with lush greenery, green gold paddy fields and tanks with beautiful water lilies.
A little while later, Shamen’s mother, Menaka Ranasinghe was compelled to seek overseas employment and she opted to work in Cyprus.
Loneliness
Shamen had to live with relatives and attend school. Being parted from her mother was traumatic for the little girl and she suffered much loneliness. To allay her loneliness Shamen turned to drawing and painting. So, it would not be wrong to say that Shamen Walker’s passion for art was born of loneliness. Of course, she had much talent and had been dabbling in art earlier but loneliness was the actual catalyst for her passion and later life’s career.
Shamen’s letters to mother Menaka were full of illustrations.
People, fields, sunsets, actually, everything was grist to the mill for Shamen. She won media competitions for art and poetry during her school days.
School days
Speaking of her school days, Shamen says that her best times at school were when she was at Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Kottawa and St. Anthony’s Girls School, Panadura.
The young, talented artist–in-the–making Shamen Walker studied art at school and offered it for her G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination. For her A/L Examination in Sri Lanka, Shamen offered subjects in the Commerce stream successfully.
In Cyprus
After this, Shamen joined her mother Menaka in Cyprus much to her joy. In Cyprus, she attended the Global College and did a Diploma in Business Management. Having successfully completed the Diploma, Shamen entered the CPL Euro University in Limasol to read for a degree in Business Management. During her time in Cyprus Shamen put art on the back burner and concentrated on her studies. In 2010, Shamen Walker returned to Sri Lanka to live in Bandaragama. Her birthplace which she loves.
Career in art
Back home Shamen Walker rekindled her passion for art. She had absolutely no desire to do a nine to five job. Instead she wanted to be her own mistress and work independently harnessing her unique artistic talents.
Portraits
Therefore, art was the obvious choice. Initially, Shamen did many pencil portraits among other drawings and paintings. She has an inborn unique talent for portraits and is able to capture on canvas the very essence or spirit of her subjects. She works in many mediums but her portraits are mainly in pencil with some being in charcoal too. She also has now broad-based into oil, acrylics and watercolours. Her subjects range over a wide spectrum and includes people, flora and fauna, sunsets and seascapes.
Courses in art
She also followed courses in art at the Vibhavi Institute where her guru and mentor was renowned Sri Lankan painter, Chandragupta Thenuwara. Kusal was another of her guru’s at Vibhavi. Shamen showcased her work on social media especially on Facebook and the response was overwhelming.
Friends and acquaintances also waxed eloquent about her work. Shamen’s natural, inborn talent for drawing, her eye for colour and detail all contributed to the uniqueness of her creations. For her creations, Shamen first makes a sketch and then develops it to the final product.
Celebrity gallery
Film star Puja Umar Shanker, cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya are among the celebrities in Walker’s celebrity gallery. She has also done portraits of corporate personalities including CEOs. What gave a tremendous fillip to Shamen’s work was her pencil portrait of movie idol Samanalee Fonseka in 2013. The great positive feedback she received on this creation and the new commissions it brought spurred Walker onto greater heights. Shamen has exhibited at many galleries including the George Keyt Gallery at the Lionel Wendt in Colombo.
Role models
Shamen is a great admirer of Mexican artist Frida Kalho, an artist who has been paralysed for years. Her work includes many self portraits and also depicts subjects such as nature, personal experiences and animals. Her guru, Chandra Gupta Thenuwara is another artist Shamen admires greatly for his vision, take on war and use and fusion of colour.
Shamen’s two great rocks in life are her husband Anuruddha Samarakoon whom she married in June, 2018 and her mother, Menaka Ranasinghe. They give her invaluable support and encouragement and a shoulder to cry on when the going gets tough.
A global gift service
‘Gifts from Walker’ is Shamen Walker’s thriving online, global gift service. And goodies are sent to 20 countries including the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
Charity
Shamen Walker has always cared about the less fortunate in life and now despite a heavy schedule still continues to run an educational support program island wide with the support of donors and feed dogs among other charitable activities.
For rest and relaxation, Shamen reads especially motivational works and spends time with Bunty, her beloved pet dog which she rescued from the street and adopted. Travel with husband Anuruddha is another favourite pastime and the young couple have covered virtually the whole of Lanka. She also writes poetry and short-stories as a hobby.
Future plans
What of the future for this highly talented and enterprising artist? Shamen will always be aspiring to perfection in her work and she also hopes to hold her first solo exhibition. Caring for the needy also plays a large part in her future plans.
