LET’S TALK ART,

i ssue 1 | april 2015

Making Connections | by Gladys Perint PalmerWelcome to the First Issue of Let’s Talk Art —India, April 2015. After spending January 2015 in India, I have come to appreciate the art of conversation, the art of spiritual thought and perhaps most of all, the art of the Taj Mahal. It is a marble miracle that must be seen to be believed. It is embellished with black onyx from Belgium, green malachite from South Africa, blue lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, green jade from China and Sri Lanka, turquoise from Turkey, and carnelian — that glows at night — from Yemen. It took three days to carve a carnelian rose, by hand, out of 164 tiny pieces. The Taj Mahal was designed by the Turkish architect Isaf Fendi who incorporated thousands of carnelian roses. All for the love of one man, Emperor Shah Jahan, for one woman, his Queen, Mumtaz Mahal. Here at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, we continue our devotion to Architecture, Jewelry and Metal Arts. But we have yet to find some way to offer you a School of Supreme Love. Give us time. ——Gladys

FEATURED ALUMMeet Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO of Green Gold Animation Pvt. Ltd., a pioneer in creating wholesome entertainment for kids of all ages and known for its hugely popular cartoon Chhota Bheem, the Number One entertainment character in India with nine shows, fifty television movies, over four hun-dred episodes plus licenses, toys and more. Academy of Art University graduate Rajiv Chilaka started his animation studio in 2000 with only four people. Today he has three offices, employing 350 people.

CHHOTA BHEEM, THE

NO. 1 ENTERTAINMENT

CHARACTER IN INDIA,

CREATED BY AAU ALUM,

RAJIV CHILAKA

FIVE FACTS | Mary Scott, Director, School of Graphic Design

To see some of their work you are invited to look at the department’s blog www.79nm.com. It features student awards, honors and news about what is happening in this vibrant program. Most recently, five students from the School of Graphic Design were named Top 100 Designers of 2014 by GDUSA magazine. Director Mary Scott is very proud of the many students who have gone on to work in some of the world’s best companies. One such company Ammunition, was named the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies in the world. This firm has employed several of AAU’s graduates and continues to do so. —See next page>

India

“When I was growing up back home in India, my inner calling was animation, not a career in engineering. I wanted to tell stories. One fine day, I decided to pursue my passion. I wanted happiness. Academy of Art University took me in with open arms although I had absolutely no back-ground in Fine Arts. I couldn’t even draw. Sometimes, all you really need is encour-agement and my lecturers were so generous with it. They let me explore by my will and I chose to spend most my time in their amazing library, full of books on great art and artists. Honestly, the Academy was the founda-tion of my company, Green Gold. My lessons here were going to be our fuel for coming years. Technical skills were only a part of my course. The Academy also let me reflect on life, and accept some profound truths. It’s my privilege to share them here: Talent and hard work come to nothing without the ‘right attitude’. Find it and practice it on a daily basis. Don’t worry about success. It will find you. As long as you work really very hard for it. Have a goal and build a way towards it, in small, meaningful steps.”

—Rajiv Chilaka

rajiv chilaka, founder and ceo of green gold animation.

a publication of academy of art unversity founded in san francisco 1929

i ssue 1 | april 2015

Aaron Cardozo, Official Representative — India. I am pleased to announce that Cardozo Design of India has been appointed Official Representative for Academy of Art University. As such, I will shortly be visiting schools to meet students interested in furthering their education and in creating rewarding careers in art and design. My schedule will be published in the June issue of Let’s Talk Art, India. We will also be setting up Alumni Associations throughout India. In the meantime, if you know of any-one looking for information about Academy of Art University, entry require-ments, courses offered, living arrangements etc., please ask them to contact me.

LET’S TALK ART, INDIA /a publication of academy of art unversity / page 2

Academic Calendar

Semester DatesSpring 2015: January 26 – May 16, 2015Summer 2015: June 15 – August 5, 2015Fall 2015: September 2 – December 19, 2015

Academy Events aau fashion show may 14, 2015

aau film festival May 15, 2015

aau spring show may 18, 2015

undergraduate commencement may 22, 2015

L’ O F F I C I E L L O V E

“I have had a memorable association with French and Russian L’Officiels, drawing and writing for them. I like the Jalouse family and the fact that it’s a family firm. When I started, Marie-Jose’s mother and father were lovely to me. I couldn’t get into shows, and they would get me in and I would sit on the floor, next to Madame Jalouse’s legs. There is one particular incident that I love to narrate. We were going to a show and we were late. We were in a small L’Officiel bus and there was a huge crowd outside the venue, with no tickets. We had to push our way through. The show was about to begin and the doors were closing and the only person who slipped through was Marie-Jose. She had a bag of film and I saw her hitting the guard with her bag of film to open the door because we were all outside. Eventually, we got in. But I still can’t get that image of Marie-Jose out of my head.”

Her curious eyes are always searching for her next subject—something her skilled fingers could immortalise by translating on paper instantly. For a lady who has been drawing since she was a

small child, it’s a quality that’s quite awe-inspiring. Gladys Perint Palmer, the Executive Vice President of Artistic Development, Academy of Art University at San Francisco, agrees that curiosity makes her who she is. “I have been a journalist and you can’t take my curiosity away from me,” she says. It’s only one of the many stellar qualities that make her unique.

BORN TO DRAW For Gladys, drawing was a normal state of being. She reminisces, “I would climb into the lap of my mother, who was an artist, and she would draw for me. Then I would climb into someone else’s lap with paper and pencil and they couldn’t draw. I couldn’t understand it.” She developed the skill at an early age and realised she was good at it. She says, “If I wanted to get attention from adults, I would start drawing.” Encouraged by her mother, she registered for an arts course at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, and then accidentally switched to fashion. She shares, “I was in my foundation year. Two weeks before we ended the summer, we had to choose our department for specialisation and I chose illustration, not fashion. Most of my friends had chosen illustration. Unfortunately, we had a very stupid instructor. He told us, ‘You’re 18; all of you are professional artists now. I expect you back in September with sketchbooks filled with work.’” Gladys chuckles with delight as she lives

up those moments from many years ago. “That summer was beautiful, so we all went to the beach and had a time of our lives. None of us did any work and nobody dared to go back into the illustration class. We all went into fashion. That’s how I got into fashion.”

Gladys reveals that it was the best thing that could have happened to her because it was there that she met her mentor Muriel Pemberton, who invented fashion education. Gladys confesses, “I was closer to her than I was to my mother. After graduation, she offered me a job to teach fashion drawing two days a week at the school, while I pursued a career outside. I learnt to be a teacher from the best teacher in the world. If I had stayed in illustration, I would not have met her.”

After working as the fashion editor for magazines for many years, she joined the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. For 19 years, she served as the executive director of fashion at the academy. Within this period, she helped build an international reputation for excellence and fostered a strong student body that grew tenfold.

BREAKING THE RULES Gentle and soft-spoken, everything that Gladys says is adorned with thinly sliced wit. Blended with her passion for art, it makes her a delightfully energetic teacher, who holds on to her teaching principles. “Drawing lays the foundation for design,” she reveals, “but unfortunately fashion design students often find it difficult to accept.” She has made drawing an essential module at the school of fashion. “I insisted on a strong foundation course in drawing and the academy has continued it. And when Gaultier and later Rosita Missoni visited, they were impressed that we were taking drawing very seriously.”

oscar de la renta

dior for l’officiel

Gladys Perint Palmer drawinG

armani for russian

l’officiel

Gladys Perint Palmer, the critically acclaimed fashion illustrator and the force behind the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, is a true artist at heart.

And a very talented one, indeed. From writing and drawing for leading magazines to illustrating for top-of-the-lot designers such as Valentino and Dior,

her pen has been there, done that. But fashion is only the point from where her world begins, and from there on, it goes everywhere…

BY JUHI DUA, L'Officiel India, February 2015

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AFASHION ARTIST

24style 25

Aaron Cardozo, Official Representative (right) Phone: +91-9561961996ACardozo@academyart.edufacebook.com/AcademyofArtUniversityIndia

More information is also available at AAU.com

Gladys Perint Palmer enjoys the “autorickshaw” ride in Chennai. —Drawn by Gladys’ friend and artist, Biswajit Balasubramanian.