I was born and raised in a small town in the south of India and like any other child from that part of the world spent my childhood enjoying the beautiful countryside. I still do have vivid memories of those days and the images of rolling hills, lush green valleys and murmuring brooks are etched deep within me.
My parents would enter me in painting competitions and I won my first prize the day my little brother was born. I remember standing by the hospital crib looking at a tiny him while someone broke the news to me about me winning the prize.
As a kid, I was drawn towards cartoons since I found that funny pictures were the quickest way to get appreciation and was deeply inspired by the cartoons of some of the best Indian cartoonists of those times, including R.K. Laxman.
I would copy cartoons from newspapers and magazines onto sheets of paper torn out of my Dad's notepad and stick them to the walls of the living room. Looking back at those days now, I realize that one of the reasons why I am an artist today is that my parents never stopped me from 'dirtying the walls' of the living room and on the contrary would show off my work to their friends who'd visit us.
Uncle Hamid, who was my Mom’s colleague was also a professional cartoonist and one day he happened to see my work and offered to teach me. I would make trips to his place hoping to come back with a bunch of funny pictures but much to my dismay he'd get me to do realistic drawings of objects. His advice was "The only skills you need to acquire is the ability to draw. Everything else is technique that can be easily picked up." Several years later today, I realize that, that was the best piece of art advice I have ever received.
My best friend as a kid was a magazine titled ‘Mathrubhumi’. Every week I’d eagerly await its arrival - not to read the stories or articles - but to spend hours together staring at the line drawings of the famous Artist Namboodiri. I’d attempt to copy his work and I had the good fortune to watch him draw live at a couple of occasions. I must admit that those are among my sweetest childhood memories. Artist Namboothiri continues to be my idol and inspiration. The force of his lines and the minimalistic approach he takes still awes me as much as they did several years ago.
I continued to pursue my interest in cartooning and line drawing through my school/college days and would win prizes once in a while and that kept me going. But, the thought of trying my hand at painting never crossed my mind. After I finished my studies I started to work as an IT engineer and in due course of time the artist in me started to go dormant. At some point it appeared as though I had completely given up on art and had started to pursue other interests.
One of those days an old friend of mine came to town and we decided to do some catching up. He couldn't make it to our meeting place on time and in order to not get bored waiting for him, I decided to walk into a book store in the neighborhood and for some strange reason found myself in the art section. That is where I picked up my first book on watercolors and embarked on the most exciting journey of my life.
Painting instruction books have a way of making everything appear very simple and the reader is made to believe that all it takes to churn out a masterpiece is to follow a few easy steps. Though I started to paint following my first ever book on watercolors I had little success and was being pushed to a point of frustration. That was when I discovered that one of most celebrated watercolor artist of the country, Ambadas Mahurkar had his studio in my neck of the woods and in a heartbeat signed up for lessons. My association with him did not last long though, since he left for his heavenly abode within a year or so. It was at his studio that I took part in the first exhibition of paintings of my life. I must admit that painting under his tutelage was one of the best things that has ever happened to me as an artist.
For a long time painting was just a hobby and I’d paint only when I had nothing good to do. But with regular practice I seemed to be making some progress and that’s when I told myself that I would have to work two jobs - IT consulting to put food on table and art to satisfy my soul. At this point I started to practice regularly and also started to closely follow the work of some of the masters like Milind Mullick, Vilas Kulkarni, John Pike, Edward Wesson, Tony Couch and Sterling Edwards to name a few. Following their work not only helped me hone my skills but also provided me with ample amount of inspiration to paint.
Around this time, an opportunity to work for an IT consulting company that’s based out of Chicago came by and I decided to give it a shot. My employer put me on an assignment to work for one of their clients in Kenosha and before I knew it I had turned myself into a Kenoshite! I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that a small town like Kenosha had so much going on in the art scene. I started to visit local art galleries and to look for opportunities and to cut a long story short, the folks at Lemon Street Gallery were more than happy to welcome me into the Kenosha art fraternity and gave me an opportunity to show my work at the gallery on regular basis. I also started to submit my work to several international and national juried shows and my work started to go places. Within a span of two years I have had the good fortune of having my work displayed at galleries across the country including in Houston, New York, New Orleans , Rhode Island, Plymouth etc. Thanks to Lemon Street Art Gallery, I have my work hanging in several private business and government offices including the Capitol building in Madison and The Jockey headquarters. My painting titled ‘Morning Light’ made it to the 18th edition of the prestigious publication by North-light books titled ‘Splash’ which features the work of the top 120 watercolor artists in the world. It was definitely an honor to rub shoulders with some of the most prominent and celebrated international watercolor artists. I have my work hanging in the homes of patrons in several cities in India, USA and UAE.
I teach workshops and find imparting knowledge to others a rewarding experience. I like to travel and carry my brushes and paints wherever I go. Though I paint portraits once in a while, I find a lot of joy in painting landscapes. My attempt has always been to paint my interpretation of the myriad hues of mother nature and I don’t think I will never grow tired of rendering her beauty with my brushes.