Monday, October 26, 2015

Motherhood, Arts and the Balancing Act


Hardly a day goes by when you won't come across the debates over the work-life balance. Whenever career, choice of career, staying-at-home, working part-time or anything inbetween is mentioned, you are presented with a plethora of views to support your opinion about what balance means.
This discussion often ends right at the point it begins. Each side supports and defends the choices that they make for themselves, by option or by circumstances. And that, in fact, is the answer to the debate, that - There is no right choice because the decision is subjected to personal options or/and lack thereof. And yes, there is something called the balance but its dynamics are defined distinctly by the individual.

Barring the workaholics - the people who choose work over anything else - rest of us can define and enjoy what we call balance. It may not be same as another working person but its your life and you choose to decide what gives you happiness. Your goals and achievements are your priority and their success is determined by the efforts we put in.

My decision to become a full-time artist was not predetermined but a series of happy coincidences that slowly took the shape of reality.

I was a hobby artist all along. Starting the journey as a kid, like most of us do, I was fortunate to receive support from family and friends. Then came a really big moment. I got discovered!
In a really big way. When I was about 8 or 9 years old, we lived in a small countryside in hilly area of India. During Summer, we had a chance to host an accomplished and very well respected artist from out-of-town. He noticed my passion for arts and made it known to my family. He felt that I was artistically blessed and had a naturally exceptional talent. With those words, may he rest in peace, he filled this little girl with unstoppable confidence in her abilities. That day on, I was never ever questioned about what I drew, painted, or created. My art supply requests, big or small, were always entertained, with equal, if not more excitement as towards the academic needs.

Knowing, you have it, makes everything possible. And that's what happened. I drew more often. Challenged myself more often. And whenever the  doubt arose, his words quelled it there and then. he had returned back to his hometown after spending a few weeks but his words stayed with me to date. In coming years, I started to set my goals higher and I cannot thank people around me to encourage to keep going. Although I didn't get any formal art training,  I received ample chances to access the best resources to learn.

Fast forward to marriage and kids. After my children were born, I came to realize my priorities needed to be changed. And that helped me choose motherhood over nine-to-six job. And around this time came an opportunity to learn in a classroom setting. I took the class offered by the local community college. I have no words to describe my joy to attend an art class!

My first ever art class made me think and practice in a way I had never done before. The semester end grade confirmed my passion in a tangible quantitative manner. It also cleared the way for another class that I took in painting. About this time, I had my work accepted into the year-end show. That could be called an exposure. I had won some school/college level contests, but this one was different. I got accepted as an art student! That opportunity laid the foundation of my decision to paint full-time in the coming years.

By Spring of 2014, I knew I was ready. I had no doubts on my capability, I never did, but the idea of working full-time in this field seemed frightening and yet welcoming! I am just so glad I chose it. It was the right decision and the timing was just right. Since that day, I have been making art and hoping that my purpose of life would become a reason of delight for others.

People often ask me how I make time to paint despite young children. I say, its not despite, its because of the young children I could fulfill my dream. Motherhood is a blessing and the responsibilities of being a parent come first! It is a choice and a very satisfying choice. Motherhood not only helped me follow my dream, it always brings a sense of meaningfulness into the artmaking.  It, naturally is a favorite genre to create. Some of it I share with you all and you could tell its created by an artist who is a mother.

With all this ado, I share "Mama Sheep" with you:


 Thanks for reading. Wishing you all the success in chasing your dreams!









Circle of Animals

#1 - Year of the Sheep

 

It is a series of animal-portraits inspired by the zodiac cycle of 12 years with one year represented by an animal. Each year is dedicated to one animal and that year is called its year, such as 2015 – year of sheep.

Focusing on the wildlife aspect of this cycle, I made 12 animal portraits. All paintings are of the same size and are meant to be displayed together. I took my artistic license to “free” the animals from their barns, animal shelters, and collars & harnesses. They all are painted in their natural habitats and possibly with their mates or offsprings.

To generate interest, I tried to choose some variation among the representative animal. For example, for the year of tiger I chose white tiger over a traditional yellow/orange Siberian or Bengal tiger. It gave me a chance to explore deeper, learn better and possibly, pique the curiosity of the viewer before reading the caption/title.

This series is a part of project “Nature” where there are landscapes, seasons, and more animals.

I used my own photos as references that we took during our trips to zoos, farms, animal shelters, and parks. And I am so very thankful to the photographers who lent their support by allowing to use their ref photos without hassles of copyrights. They were invaluable resources for the subjects living in lands far and away. Despite my best efforts there are a few that have no available photo credit info. I will mention that along with the photos of paintings.

I will add photos to the album one by one and I invite you to guess which animal aligned with the year of dragon. :-)

Do let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Fall Painting Season







Its that time of the year when the studio is packed back to back with artwork in progress and finished. Loving the hustle-bustle!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Cherry Blossom Oil Painting

Cherry Blossom 
Oil on Canvas

Seeking a Writer

Position Title: Art Writer
Duration: 2- 3 weeks
Location: Anywhere, remote work is okay

Duties:

In the role of Art Writer, you will be describing the paintings and drawings in a positive and engaging manner. The details should be accurate, informative, and easy to read.

It should convey all the details about the artwork, connect it to similar artworks, and be meaningful for the viewer.

This Job Is Right For You If You Are:

Familiar with basic art-making techniques
Able to understand art terminologies, such as watercolor, pastel, canvas etc.
An engaging, creative, and highly accurate writer
Able to research well and be up-to-date about the facts
Able to compile and mention the sources of research, other weblinks and names of the writers in case of reference to book(s)
Punctual and never miss a deadline
Comfortable writing in many different formats and open to suggestions
An independent self-starter, but you also enjoy collaborating with others
Proficient with word, pdf and basic text editing tools

Other:

Any prior experience towards published writing is a plus.
Interest in nature, wildlife, and/or art history is a plus.
This project have a scope of a long term collaboration for later projects of similar nature.

How to apply:

Please email a resume and expected compensation to Bhavna.Misra@Gmail.com
Should be able to provide 2 references
Links to published work is desired

Compensation

It is a paid position and compensation depends upon the experience.