{"id":146002,"date":"2017-01-11T14:23:15","date_gmt":"2017-01-11T14:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=146002"},"modified":"2017-01-12T13:25:10","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T13:25:10","slug":"berlin-based-painter-loves-show-beauty-cycling-watercolours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2017\/01\/11\/berlin-based-painter-loves-show-beauty-cycling-watercolours\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin-Based Painter Loves to Show the Beauty of Cycling in Watercolours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allen Shaw (43) is an Indian artist, illustrator and storyteller who decided to change his hometown of Munger for Berlin. The graduate of the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad\u00a0has been fascinated by the \u201ctwo-wheeled wonder\u201d \u2013 as he refers to bicycles \u2013 since his childhood. In India, bikes are regarded as a means of transport for the poor, but when Allen came to Europe, he was surprised at how much joy bicycles bring to people of all sorts and ages. Allen himself is a great fan of cycling and apart from riding, he loves painting bikes with watercolours. That way he tries to show the enchantment of this wonderful machine to the general\u00a0public.<\/strong>
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\u2028Allen, why did you choose Berlin? Has it been a dream destination for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, when I moved to Germany almost nine years back, I landed up in Erlangen, quite a little town in South Germany. It took me a while to get used to the culture, which is quite different from my own. When I finally felt a little settled, my wife asked me if I would like to move to a bigger city like Berlin, Munich or Stuttgart. My answer was, \u201cI have started liking Erlangen and have a few things going my way in Erlangen, but I do not want to die here!\u201d So Berlin became an obvious option. I have lived here for almost four years, but I still have my ties with Erlangen. This year the Mayor of Erlangen decided to use one of my bicycle illustrations from Erlangen as his greeting card for 2017.<\/p>\n

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Why do you paint bikes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been fascinated with the two-wheeled wonder since my childhood. I think it\u2019s such a pretty subject to paint. I just love the form and I try to find as many stories around bicycles as possible. When I came to Europe, I got even more fascinated because of the bicycle culture here. I display my work at bicycle fairs and I am falling deeper and deeper in love with it with every passing year. Apart from that, I think in today\u2019s context, it\u2019s one of the most relevant means of transportation, and if I can spread this message through my work, I would be more than happy.<\/p>\n