Jamshedpur, March 25: For a businessman in his fifties who held a painting exhibition-cum-sale for the first time, the response has been good.

A professional who learnt to paint without any formal training, Narmada Prasad Sharma held the exhibition at Beldih Club over this weekend to popularise his work.

Surprisingly, he found many takers.

Narmada Prasad or “Naru” — his signature name — indulged in painting only as a hobby even as he ran a company called Ramdas Oil Mills, providing rust-proof metal sheets to Tata Motors all these years. Of late, he has been teaching at the Jamshedpur School of Art, Kadma.

Most of his paintings have human forms, mainly the female form, to depict a range of emotions.

Though most of his paintings use oil, water and a mixed medium, the ones that stand out are the ones in chalk and charcoal.

“I use oil chalk that does not get spoilt like the usual chalk,” said Sharma.

He also specialises in kundan work on ceramic tiles depicting north India’s style of art. Some paintings include intricate work on ceramic depicting the traditional attire of Rajasthani men and women and rural landscape.

His clients include sales tax officers and small businessmen. Vishal Sawa, owner of Payal Talkies, is one such happy client who bought a Mother Mary painting — the most expensive of the lot. Vishal said: “It’s a very finely-done painting with good expressions of the mother and child.”

The paintings range between Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 and the decorative ceramic art items cost from Rs 75 to Rs 200. “The USP is that these paintings are not very expensive. Nothing is more than Rs 5,000,” said Nivedita, about her father’s work. “There was a good response and have sold nearly 25 pieces,” she said.

The artist has also bagged orders for more than 60 paintings and show pieces.

The exhibition will be a regular annual feature considering the favourable response, he added. He would also start teaching painting to children during the summer vacations on an experimental basis.