Bhubaneswar: Popular miniature artist L Eswar Rao from Jatni village in Khurda district, who had sculpted a tiny statue of Sardar Patel from a soap in a bottle, has now come up with a miniature sculpture of Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup trophy.
“Making this took me a day and this is a small contribution from my side towards the much-talked-about mega event,” he said.
His previous work on the Patel statue had taken him three days to complete and “was a tribute to the Iron Man of India”.
Having been practising this art form since last 25 years, Rao is quite polished and also renowned for it. He creates miniature art on pencil nib and soap and presents them in a bottle.
His journey as a miniature artist began in 1999, when he gifted Taj Mahal carved out of a chalk to his teacher.
He started his own foundation ‘Eswar Art and Craft Social Foundation’ where he started training children for free while continuing with the miniature art. The 36-year-old artist has a museum of his own with his personal works on display.
“I don’t want to sell my work because for me, they are priceless and no one is ready to appreciate the hard work and pay me well. I have started training little kids for free and since it is a registered foundation, we work our way in terms of finance,” he added.