From A Tailor To The "Needleman": Meet The World's First Sewing Machine Artist

The world is filled with unique talents that will leave you astounded. While you may have seen and made many different types of artistic creations, paintings are less likely to cross your mind. Artists know better that art requires a lot of determination, skills, and of course, hard work. Well, Arun Kumar Bajaj from Patiala, Punjab, has set an amazing image before the world with his immense creativity and amazing artworks. While all of us wish to be unique in whatever we do, fitting into different situations around us often makes it difficult. Amid all these uncertainties, Arun Kumar Bajaj is an example of how one can deal with chaos and still emerge as one of the unique artists around the world.

What's Special About Arun's Art? 

Arun Kumar Bajaj (37 years) became popular for making portraits using a sewing machine. Yes! He is the first person around the world to something like this out of his creativity. He made his first art sometime around the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev; it was a beautiful portrait. In fact, he made portraits of various other celebrities with his colorful threads and sewing machine.

In 2007, in a meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Arun gifted him his handmade portrait. His name has been recorded in the Limca Book Of Records and the India Book Of Records to Unique Records. There are many other great artistic creations by him that deserve an applaud. 

The Inception Of Creativity 

Arun Kumar Bajaj was born in Patiala, Punjab, in the year 1983. While the city is famous for many things like the traditional turban, Patiala salwar, paranda, jutti, or the Patiala peg; Arun belonged to a common family; his father was a tailor. In several interviews, Arun gave glimpses of his early life and the further journey. He was just 16 when his father passed away, and he had to drop out of school. He had always been good at painting and sketching and knew tailoring since he was 12. After his father's demise, Arun took over the family's tailoring business.

While Arun had his family tailoring business, he had always desired to become and achieve something more rather than being called a tailor or 'darzi' throughout his life. Although there were times when Arun's obsession with doing something unique invited financial instability for his family, he decided to keep moving ahead. He has a tailoring enterprise in Patiala's Adalat Bazaar, which is popular for making sherwanis and traditional achkans.

Collaboration Of Art And Existing Assets 

Considering the fact that Arun was good at sketching, he thought of combining it with tailoring. In countries like France, embroidered tapestries had been well-known traditions for many years. It's often called petit point or needlepoint. Bajaj did it differently by using a sewing machine instead of doing it by hand. The artist explained that it needs to be done carefully and precisely since there's no going back once you've stitched the cloth. His idea became a big hit and received appreciation. A few years later, he registered the trademark, "Needleman" under his name.   

Arun also organized various exhibitions with his paintings in different cities like Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi. In fact, he sold many of them at Dilli Haat worth lakhs of Rupees. One of his best works is the 4×2 feet large painting of Sikh Ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in which he has precisely made more than 2000 human figures, detailing soldiers and courtiers. He gifted it to then Union Minister Smriti Irani. Like other art pieces, he made it using a sewing machine and took more than a year to complete the same.

Arun Kumar Bajaj is not only a great example for other budding artisans but for everyone who wants to bring up unconventional wonders out of their low-key, common profession. You only need the passions, determination, and will to keep moving until you accomplish the goal.