In a way, she represents the various avatars of today’s women. Mili Montiel is a business administrator and marketer by degree, an entrepreneur who runs a family business, an interior decorator and an artist.
She works in diverse media, working with glass, wood, cloth, canvas, metal…but her speciality is clearly the wide range of metal tea kettles and mugs which she magically transforms from dull shades of grey to an unimaginable kaleidoscope of colours and designs set amongst a plethora of backgrounds.
Her husband Augusto Montiel, Ambassador of Venezuela to India, says proudly, “You see, everyone is creative in some way or the other, but when art comes naturally to someone, almost anything can be transformed. With Mili’s works, it is something like that. The best part is the amalgamation of Indian and Venezuelan touches, which is a beautiful mix, something through which she complements my work.”
On her part, she says, “When I came with my husband to India, I realised that amongst so many similarities, one was the riot of colours that was common to both countries. For me, painting has always come naturally, and has been a source of meditation, inspiration and motivation, with which I can face the challenges that life throws at me.”
Why kettles? “Well, I have to thank India for that. I found this as an amazing medium to enable expression and transformation. The amazement one feels through rebuilding, reconstruction or redesigning is beyond any other feeling. It is a new high.”
Mili also holds workshops as she believes that imparting an art is also a learning process. “I look around, wherever I go and seek inspiration from people and surroundings. When I went to Amritsar, I found potential ideas everywhere. There seemed to be so many elements of design in even a single object. This is true for India, in general, too: so many ideas, everywhere. One just has to remain open and grasp them.”
Though Mili gifts her works to whoever asks for it, she now plans to exhibit them, in order to generate more awareness about her craft. “I love to experiment with Indian and Venezuelan styles, colours and material. The blend is interesting. I would like to exhibit my works and impart the skills I know and learn, so that further synergies can be worked out through art as a medium. I love working with children, as they absorb and share so much, which makes it a win-win situation.