This is not a story about art - not exactly. This, really, is a true tale of love, to which art is inextricably linked.

Once upon a time, there was a man and woman who fell in love. The couple, both teachers - one of Art and Craft and the other of Science - loved in secret, for the man was Sri Lankan and the woman, Punjabi, and unwritten law forbade the two to be together.

The day came for the man to ask for his lady's hand in marriage, but her father, dictated by the conventions of society, refused to give his blessing.

“Before I left the house, I told him, 'please tell Kalbunth I came',” T.K. Karan, now 72, reminisced.

Upon finding out what happened, Kalbunth, also called Kito, made the hardest decision of her life - she left her beloved family to be with Karan.

Time passed and eventually, the rift between Kito and her family healed.

Karan continued teaching art and dabbling in it during his free time, his passion fuelled by Kito's unending encouragement and love.

“She was my support and the driving force behind me and my art.”

When Kito fell ill with cancer, Karan devoted his time to caring for her, art taking a backseat. He found solace in art once again when Kito died.

It has been three years since and Karan will hold his first solo art exhibition in tribute to his wife next month.

“I used to participate in group shows from 1962 to 1968,” he said.

While Karan is versatile in acrylic, oil, watercolours and poster colours, his chosen media for the upcoming show - aptly themed Kito - is batik dye on mounting board and canvas, a technique he discovered quite by accident more than a year ago while working on batik craft.

“I accidentally dripped dye on a mounting board. When I instinctively reached for my good morning towel to wipe off the dye, I saw the effect it left on the mounting board. It looked like rock face, very textural,” he explained.

The tools of his trade are brushes, sponge, toilet roll, comb and his good morning towel.

Do not, however, mistake Karan's art credentials to be half-baked - he specialised in art and craft at the Specialist Teachers Training Centre (STTI) in Cheras under the tutelage of veteran names such as Syed Ahmad Jamal and Lee Joo. For, while his peers included Yeoh Jin Leng and the late Redza Piyadasa.

Two of his works were in the private collection of the late former National Art Gallery secretary Frank Sullivan, and he was former chief examiner for art in the still life category in 1990.

“I just chose to remain an art and craft teacher,” he said simply.

Just like his soul and his life story, Karan's paintings in Kito are romantic, depicting in gentle, blurred lines the landscapes found mostly in his beloved Ipoh (also where he met Kito).

To achieve the desired textural quality, dye is initially administered with a paintbrush before it is blotted out or smeared off with a comb, towel, sponge and toilet roll.

Thus, disused mines, limestone hills, wetlands and vast open plains lovingly take form on canvas and mounting board - the former appearing pale and almost washed out, while the latter, slightly more vibrant.

His works seem to have tentativeness to them, something Karan attributes to his preference for pastel shades and small-scale paintings.

If you look long enough, there is a little san sui art and Impressionist influences coupled with a certain naïveté in the Kito repertoire.

And, while they do not display the vivacity and boldness found in many contemporary artworks, Karan's paintings take on a slight surreal appeal from a distance.

“I find that batik dye lends itself beautifully to painting fading distances.”

Besides landscapes, the exhibition will also include paintings of flowers and the underwater world - both of which are also Karan's favourite subjects.

“This show has brought out the artist in me. I feel a sort of liberation, from being confined in the mould of art and craft teacher, to finally being accepted as an artist. This is for my wife,” Karan said.

Kito will show from Aug 16 to 25 at The Lookiss Gallery, 6, Lorong Enau, Jalan Ampang, KL.

For details, call 03-4257 7366 or log on to www.lookissgallery.com.