Meet young Krutika Bhandari who turns music tools into pieces of art!

Turning musical instruments into a piece of art is what 27-year-old Krutika Bhandari loves doing. A completely self-taught artist, this management graduate embellishes instruments such as guitar, saxophone and flute. Bhandari, who started painting since she was a child, says she was always apt at turning things into unique pieces.“Even as a child, I would look to make or build DIY art and craft objects, rather than just paint on a one-dimensional surface,“ she say.

She upskilled her craft by the ear and eye from friends, teachers, books and the Internet. Three years ago, the guitar suddenly caught her fancy .“I was looking for something other than a canvas to create artwork on, when the idea to paint on musical instruments came to my mind,“ Bhandari says. Since then she has painted over 30 instruments through word-of-mouth advertising, participating in exhibitions where customers approach her and through her Facebook page titled Muse Art.

Music composer and conductor of the Indian National Symphony Orchestra in Bengaluru, Ashley Williams, recently got his saxophone painted by Bhandari. “I asked her to use UV paints to give a glow effect on the instrument. I loved the final outcome and am waiting for the right occasion to debut the instrument,“ says Williams, adding that he hopes that the colour, flamboyance and cool artwork on a serious instrument like the sax will inspire more young musicians to take to learning it.


Here is one of her best creation. (Image: Facebook)

Bhandari, who charges a feed pending on the complexity of the design, has about four orders a month.Besides Bengaluru and cities within the state, she has customers from Chennai, Pune, Mohali and Kerala sending in their instruments to get them artistically customised.

From painting the space to abstract design to objects, she makes sure to cure a wooden-based instrument before starting work on it, which is then sealed with lacquer. “I always use light-based paints and take about a week to 10 days to customise an instrument,“ she says. City-based hobby art collector Ajai Motwani got a guitar painted by Bhandari two years after seeing her work at one of the city flea markets. “It was an interesting mix of music and art, which caught my attention,“ says Motwani, for whom, the customised guitar is an artwork that graces his walls.