Whilst we have been on lockdown and keeping each other company online in the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/MajorcaMallorca we’ve come to get to know each other more and more. Yesterday I enjoyed making an authentic Indian dry potato curry straight from Daxa Parmar’s mum’s recipe book! What a treat it was to have the guidance via video to make a simple dish and follow the tips and tricks that go into making it just perfect. (Slice the potatoes in a particular way and add the Garam Masala AT THE END, were two of my personal revelations if you want to see Daxa’a recipes just hop into the group and look up her name).
Incredible potato recipe.
Daxa, however, is not a professional cook, just a good one. She is much better known for her art and her interesting approach to wellness.
“I create paintings and drawings for people who find it challenging to prioritise their own wellbeing”, says Daxa on her website www.daxaparmar.com
“I’m genuinely concerned that we rarely experience a true sense of peace. I was once a big ‘doer’. Constantly on the move, thinking of what was next. The next place to be, job to finish, call to make, meal to cook, meeting to attend, message to send. Never taking a breath. Never ‘being present’. One day it all stopped. I became very ill and the only thing I could ‘do’ was ‘breathe’ and ‘be’. I was in the middle of my Masters in Art and Design as well as leading many arts projects, being a Mum and caring for my own Mother. Being forced to stop made me see just how fast I had been travelling through life and how feeling stressed became the norm. Before slowing down, I used to create paintings in one sitting. Essentially starting and finishing a painting on the same day. My paintings now take me days and sometimes weeks to complete bringing me a wonderful sense of wellbeing.”
Daxa at work.
Daxa lived and worked in London for several years and sold her work internationally. For more than two decades her art has been bought by private collectors based around the world as well commissions that she has personally delivered to her clients in the UK. Her largest commission can be seen at the central London Headquarters of Prince Charles’s, The Princes Trust. Daxa decided to move to Majorca five years ago and now lives in the Tramuntana with her wife and daughter and their two Spanish water dogs.
Daxa’s philosophy is this, “Have you ever tried to do and think of nothing? It's really hard, isn't it? For me, it’s the ultimate connection with my truer self and my purpose in life. Each symbol of ‘0’ (zero) represents a cycle. A breath. It’s calming and helps you to connect your mind and body by keeping your attention in the present moment. It’s a way of meditating without having to try. In my latest work, I am also challenging myself to paint what nothing feels and looks like. The paintings are filled with moments of space, stillness and emerging silence."
“I want to be an antidote to the high-speed digital age. My intention is to help slow the experience of time down for me and the viewers of my work”.
Daxa’s change of approach and her slowing down has subsequently helped many others to relax through art, both hers and through creating their own. During the lockdown, she has been giving tutorials online in the At Home Together group which are well worth watching. She is currently working from her home studio during the quarantine, still creating and still inspiring others to slow down and take their time.
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