Speakers shed light on the life and work of renowned artist Jimmy Engineer at the launch of his biography, ‘In Search of My Master’, penned by noted art critic Marjorie Husain at a club on Friday. Recalling his journey as an artist, Jimmy Engineer said he was five years old when he began drawing pictures with powder and water colours. At the age of six, he fell ill and doctors told his parents that both his kidneys had failed, he said. By the grace of God he recovered and ever since had been painting because of Him. Later on he got into the National College of Arts and opted for the design section because he was told that being there assured a job. But he was interested in fine arts and would always be found in the fine art section. Then the question of the efficacy of having a degree arose for which he walked out of the college to see whether holding a degree mattered or not, he said. Jimmy Engineer said people used to ask him why he made different types of paintings, to which his reply was that he was a student, a pupil of art and would never acquire mastery over it. There’s only one Master, Al Musawwir, and hence the name of the book.
