"Watercolors, to a large extent, is an unforgiving medium… allowing almost no scope to remove any errors,” stated Zarin Amrolia, self-taught painter and corporate communications professional. She has completed 60 paintings in the last year alone. "A myriad use of colors has given an unexpected, much appreciated vibrancy to my paintings,” she communicated to Parsiana on July 16, 2021.
Zarin Amrolia and her watercolors
Amrolia, a deputy general manager at Shapoorji Pallonji Company, is currently capturing the "charming and captivating facades” of agiaries and atash behrams in Bombay, and endeavors to visit and paint fire temples outside the city when travel restrictions ease up. Hoping that her paintings "evoke nostalgia, spark conversations and perhaps encourage other artists to bring the Zoroastrian culture into focus,” Amrolia stated that for her "practicing art in solitude is akin to meditation.”
"Inspiration for many of my paintings is the world with which I am most familiar, Zoroastrian culture… It is also a conscious decision to celebrate the community through art,” she told us. "Today Zoroastrian art mainly consists of Persian art of the bygone era, illustrations of the legends of Shahnameh, Iranian miniature paintings, large oil paintings of Zarathushtra and Shah Lohrasp in our fire temples, and portraits of benefactors… Through art, we (should) be able to appreciate, nurture, preserve and celebrate the indigenous evolution of our illustrious and eclectic community… I am aiming to depict celebratory customs and ceremonies, such as navjotes and weddings, the alluring architecture of our fire temples, gara embroidery, torans, making of kusti and sudreh, and even the simple daily rituals such as having a divo at home, before some of them become only a history lesson.”
She began painting in earnest over a decade ago. Creating art was sporadic for the 37-year-old Tardeo resident. She started to work with watercolors at the end of 2019. "Forums on the world wide web proved helpful to select the right materials, understand different methods, and the capability of the medium,” she informed us. "Since the lockdown was first implemented in March last year, I have been painting almost every day.” Starting out with subjects, such as flowers, burgers, a glass of falooda or a box of mawa cakes referring to pictures clicked on her phone, she progressed to creating portraits of family and friends. Through her social media accounts, folks commissioned her to paint portraits, Zoroastrian symbols, even a bungalow, "and most adorably, pet portraits as well,” she stated. Her paintings range from 9” x 12” to 14” x 20.” Besides watercolors, Amrolia has explored mediums like charcoal, oil and acrylic painting on canvas, and even used digital art programs.
With a master’s degree in English literature, she is studying in the fifth year of the Avesta and Pahlavi course run by the Sir J. J. Zarthoshti and Mulla Firoze Madressa. Her works are available on her social media accounts on both Instagram and Facebook.