Lay your head on a royal pillow

City-based artist Abhilasha Jain's Mish Mash Design offers hand-painted accessories embellished with historic designs

City-based artist Abhilasha Jain's Mish Mash Design offers hand-painted accessories embellished with historic designs

While the rest of the world was busy celebrating Valentine's Day this year, Abhilasha Jain (29) was preoccupied about the launch of her label Mish Mash Design. She needn't have worried because soon, her collection of hand-painted totes and cushion covers started selling like hot cakes and when we called her, she admitted her schedule was jam-packed with orders.u00a0


Royal emperor cushion cover

Jain first picked up the paintbrush while watching her mother, Tara, dabble with painting. While she always intended to start her own business, she had envisaged herself in a different field. "I came to Mumbai from Indore in 2002 to enroll for a jewellery designing and merchandising course," said Jain. In her spare time, she would handpaint cushion covers and soon started getting orders from friends and family. Jain realised that this was her true calling and formed Mish Mash Design.

While she initially did offer customised products, she now prefers to stick to her tried and tested designs. "My designs are rooted in Indian themes and motifs and I seek inspiration from paintings," she adds. Her designs are vibrant and range from the image of a girl lost in her thoughts amidst butterflies and flowers, to depictions of tribals and deities such as Ganesha. Jain also has a Royal collection where she has etched images of Emperor Akbar with Jodha and Shahjahan with Mumtaz.

It takes Jain three days to make her products, but she has no qualms being a one-woman army. The process involved includes outlining designs and then painting over them using fabric colours. They are then left to dry and her work is complete. Next up on her to-do list is to make a set of products inspired by incidents from her life and fond memories.

Email: themishmashdesign @gmail.com
Log on to: https://mishmashdesign-abhilasha.blogspot.com/
Price range: Rs 500 to Rs 3,400

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