KOCHI: Sitting idle is something that Smitha Sebi can never imagine doing. And this is what prompted her to try her hand at art and crafts. For the past couple of years she has been designing ornaments, dresses, footwear. What makes this unique is that she does it using whatever interesting material she can lay her hands on. Smitha’s designer ornaments where she uses peacock feathers has been attracting many a customers for the past two years.She says about how the inspiration came to her, “Two years back when I was thinking what to wear along with a Kerala sari, the thought of teaming it up with peacock feathers occurred to me. I just made a simple hanging earring using the feather and wore it. Luckily people liked it and then I began to explore more possibilities using the peacock feathers,” says Smitha who is a self trained crafts and ornament designer.Using peacock feathers, Smitha designs necklace and footwear too. The cost of earrings starts from Rs 50. “A full set of peacock ornament will have a earring and necklace which starts from Rs 120 and depending on the need of the customer and the materials used to design goes upto Rs 400,” says Smitha who has experimented her peacock ornaments with crystals and beads. Ask her why she chose to use peacock feathers, and she says, “Peacocks and their feathers are loved by everyone. Especially its feathers are very beautiful and to use them on ornaments was a natural choice,” says Smitha who is a computer science teacher by profession. This is not all that Smitha does. She also makes ornament designs in clay, threads, wood, clothes and the like. “If you have tethered jeans in your house one can make ornaments from it. People invariably notice something that looks different. And my policy is to create ornaments that are less expensive and are made from the available materials,” says Smitha who is very keen to wear dresses and ornaments that she herself designs.She has conducted more than 10-12 exhibitions in various parts of the city. “People like the designs and they appreciate it when we give them something new.” Ask her how she manages to balance her house, four-year- old kid, and career, and she says, “I like teaching, and arts and crafts is a passion with me. It’s true that I am super busy but I do not feel exhausted because whatever work I do I enjoy it. Besides, my husbands has always been supportive.”Smitha who is now busy with her arts and craft summer camp at St George Parish Hall says , “The camp was an initiative to build children’s talents in various crafts. There are 50 children enrolled for the camp now and has been a success,” says Smitha who is planning to open an academy for arts and crafts for homemakers. “The academy is named Nimra Talent Search Academy and will open mid May. It will also have a shop where we will only be selling items that are hand made. We will also be teaching the art to more people and catering to more shops,” says Smitha.
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