Following My Paint Brush

Following My Paint Brush is the story of Dulari Devi, a domestic helper who went on to become an artist in the Mithila style of folk painting from Bihar, eastern India. Dulari is from a community of fisherfolk, and she discovered painting while working as a domestic labourer in an artist’s house. She learned by doing, and has since been acknowledged as a reputed artist. Through a series of images, done in the exquisite Mithila style, Dulari recalls important moments from her life. The sheer beauty of these pictures belies the stark and simple heroism of her tale. Gita Wolf draws on Dulari’s oral accounts of her life to tell a poignant yet quietly hopeful story for young readers.

Gita Wolf was born in Calcutta but educated in different cities in India, including New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. She received her Masters degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Erlangen/Nuerenberg, Germany. In 1994, she started Tara Books, as an independent publishing house based in India. Beginning with The Very Hungry Lion in 1995, she has written over 20 books for children and adults. Several have won major international awards and been translated into multiple languages. Her book, Do! was honoured with the prestigious BolognaRagazzi New Horizons award. Another title, Gobble You Up went on to win the Aesop award. Arun Wolf is a young film-maker from Chennai, India and has been associated with Tara for several years - he assists with visual documentation and is involved in producing book-related shorts and themed documentaries for Tara Books. The various artists featured in this book include several award-winners and men and women of extraordinary talent, including Bhajju Shyam, Durga Bai, Jagdish Chitara and Bhaddu Hamir. Each of these artists has exhibited in India and elsewhere, being featured in exhibitions of outsider and folk art from India.