I wish I knew myself well enough to tell it to you in a few crisp sentences. I don't. So here is a narration of the meandering life path I have walked so far.
 
An introverted Tam-Brahm girl living in the quiet seaside suburb of Juhu in Mumbai, India - a cosmopolitan South Indian - with a decent school record and vacations spent at her grandparents characterful home in Madras, doing activities like drawing, reading, gardening, tailoring and making handicrafts, sums up the early years. 
 
I once enthusiastically painted a vase of flowers on the blank rear-side of a glossy wall calendar. The result was a glorious & vibrant one! The family was impressed. I wouldn't do it today. You see, they were oil paints! I was 13. 
 
A couple of college degrees and professional qualifications in Commerce & Law happened by default rather than design. A vision of myself sitting in a revolving executive chair behind a wooden desk took root in my head. What exactly I was going to do on / behind that furniture, I had no clue. 
 
Along the way I became enamoured with my dad's manual film SLR camera. I continued to draw often. 
 
A short nondescript work life and then marriage and child took care of my 20s.  By now had my own film SLR and enjoyed using it. I continued to draw and got paid to teach drawing to young kids in a foreign country even! 
 
I yearned to learn art properly. Someone connected me to someone who taught me to do one black and white portrait with charcoal powder on paper. In the months that followed, I did a dozen on my own. The practice included portraits of animals & sculptures apart from human faces. I used kitchen ingredients for minimal colour mixes too. People I knew started to call me an artist. I believed it - you see, I did not know what I did not know. 'I want to hold at least one exhibition of my paintings in this lifetime' is something that I voiced for the first time. The recurring thought being that I shouldn't regret NOT having delved in art, at 50!
 
The dream of a corporate career resurfaced. The recurring thought being that I shouldn't regret Not having worked in a big corporate, at 60! 
 
I took up an opportunity that came my way. The job description was nowhere connected to my educational qualification, which by now, was redundant and irrelevant anyway. 3 different senior management positions in 3 different industries that I seemed to have managed efficiently [going by the people connects and market repute] meant that I had the ability to put my mind to something and do it well. 
 
I had given a 100% devotion to the decade-long career, achieved a lot and learnt a good deal, mostly about myself. I could absorb quickly & my learning curves were steep. 
 
During the corporate years, periodic local gallery visits, tracking notable art events, visiting museums during travels abroad and taking pictures continued. They opened my eyes....to the plenty I did not know. And yet I've mentioned often that I wanted to hold an exhibition!
 
The dream to be an artist resurfaced. I quit my job. If not now, then when? I did not know where to begin.
 
I was almost 50. No time now for a formal art education, I have to give myself an art degree, I decided. The recurring thought being that I shouldn't regret Not having delved in art, at 70!
 
Using my numerous photographs as references, I created charcoal works and started to use soft pastels in the same techniques. 
 
I started to pen my passing thoughts. I created a blog and started to publish posts regularly. I did not know that I had the ability to be expressive with words. I enjoyed it. Reader comments were encouraging.
 
I travelled for Master artist workshops, learnt to see differently and understand what I saw & to understand the usage of different mediums and surfaces, attended nude drawing sessions, watched demo videos and never missed an opportunity to see contemporary art. All the while I was experimenting with everything I was learning and creating original and unique artworks on my own.
 
I was putting in my 10000 hours of work on painting and writing. 
I did nothing else.
 
A photograph of mine got shortlisted and displayed by KalaGhoda Art Festival for a group exhibition at the iconic Jehangir Art Gallery! I took it as a good omen. A start point in 2017.
 
In 2018 I exhibited about 20 artworks at a local art fair and got plenty of media coverage. I sold 4. An opportunity to run a column in an art newspaper came up the same year. 
 
I have worked hard to develop my skills in different mediums and surfaces and tried out with utmost sincerity, a variety of subjects. In the course of practice more than 200 artworks have got created since. Done in an experimental manner, my representational and realistic paintings have received considerable appreciation. 
 
A respected curator asked me if I was an architect or civil engineer after seeing some of my artworks that had depth and perspective! 
 
Art sales have been consistent.
 
I now write columns, short stories, poetry and do book reviews for authors. About 25 articles have got published as well.  
 
2022, began on a pleasant note with my first solo exhibition of paintings at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery at Mumbai. It  has followed 9 art fair participations including one abroad. 

 

I have done many more art shows since ....

 

Penning a book, a private family biography has happened too.
 
There are 
So many ideas still to be ‘artified’……
And
So many thoughts yet to be ‘Storified’…..
 
I intend to do the best I can.
 
————-
A few questions I ask myself -
 
Why do I paint and write? 
I don't have an answer. I see myself as a painter and writer of memories, sentiments and sights. I draw inspiration from my experiences. I am enamoured by this idea that memories can be captured! 
Ideally the work I do should speak for itself. 
 
What fascinates me? 
History, architecture, sculptures and human stories. Mostly Indian.
 
Who do I look up to? - 
*Michelangelo and Edgar Degas for their figurative works and the grasp of perspectives. 
*Rodin for his ability to make his sculptures speak silently. 
*Raja Ravi Varma of course! 
*R K Narayan and Kalki for the ease with which they tell their stories.
 
 
What kind of work do I enjoy doing the most? 
It feels grand to stand in front of an easel and wave the brush. I find a special charm in applying colour pigment and blending them with fingers on textural surfaces especially paper. 'Realistic Still-Life Paintings' is what I am comfortable with. The sparrow has become my voice.

I am drawn to colours from the Indian landscape. I am drawn to representational and realistic work.
 
I enjoy writing short stories with a hint of humour.
I would like to bring my audience to feel a sense of ‘all izz well’ and make them smile.
 
What confuses me? 
I am not sure if I understand abstract art. Maybe in time. 
Dark stuff - visual or written, is not for me.
 
How do I take decisions?
By eliminating the options that will not work for me. I strive to get  clarity on ‘what I don’t want’.
 
What makes me Me? - 
*I have been a self taught in everything I have done 

• I motivate myself

• I am focused and make sacrifices 

• I am comfortable in my own company

• I am neat and organised

• I am tech savvy too! 

• I don’t suffer from FOMO 

• I don’t fear walking the ‘not often trodden path’

• I have spunk!

 
Almost every line above starts with an ‘I’ - I know 😐…but that’s ok here isn’t it? This page is about me 😁
 
If you have read so far, you now know me almost as well as I know myself!!!