Desi Today Magazine
By Surbhi Gogia
It is said that what’s meant to be yours will come to you. Sneha’s story of becoming an artist is an example of this wonderful life cycle. Her childhood dream of becoming an artist was lost due to life’s other priorities, but eventually the universe brought her closer to her dream once she landed in Canada. A science professional, she recently got an opportunity to talk about her journey as a self-taught artist at the Surrey Art Gallery during an illustrated talk. In this illustrated talk, she discussed her practice and experimentation with different forms and mediums. She also did a live painting demo on the occasion of Holi, the ancient Indian festival of Spring also known as the “Festival of Colours.”
Born in India, Sneha was always passionate about art. She says she always used to express herself through art which included ceramics, glass painting, nib painting, paper quilling, henna design, rangoli designs, crocheting, zardozi designs, flowers making and many more. “I would immerse myself so much so that I even lost track of time, escape from the real world, and never wanted to come back. I also had a dream to join an art school, but art wasn’t considered as a career few years back, hence I moved on with life.”
After completing her master’s in science, she moved to Canada in 2017. Just as most of the immigrants encounter loneliness once they move to a new country, Sneha says she perceived that “sudden hollowness after leaving a large group of family and friends back in India.” But this hollowness brought her closer to art one more time. “It started to resurface what I felt from inside all this time along, my love and appetite for creation of artwork.”
“I remember that day very well, where I bought some colors from dollar store and started painting. The results were satisfactory but at the same time I knew I was on a very long road to some semblance of perfection. I have experienced that when you start to follow any path, start to believe in yourself and have set a goal, the doors open automatically for success,” she recalls.
Her journey in Vancouver art scene started when she came across AFAA stall in farmer’s market and joined this group. “This is where my actual art journey started. I somehow managed to produce 3 paintings of different styles within a week, all in acrylics. Lord Ganesha which was my first big canvas 16”x20” painting, Diwali festival painting because it was around the corner in October and Warli art painting, it is a tribal art form of India.”
Some of her paintings were displayed at Western sky books store for around 4 months during 2021 fall. Painting Grouse Mountain was selected to be a part of Art Focus calendar of 2022 along with contributions from other senior artists. “Currently 3 of my landscape paintings are displayed at Michael Wright Art Gallery of Port Coquitlam until April 2022,” she says.
Sneha loves experiment with different art forms Warli painting, Madhubani painting, Meenakari painting, free hand designs, but she says Vancouver’s beauty is what she loves to capture on her canvas after moving to Canada. “One of my inspiration is beautiful British Columbia and pleasant weather of Vancouver. It is so easy to reach out and touch this nature which provides a feeling of joy and gratitude in our heart. Being in Vancouver itself is a soothing, calming factor which helped me to grow my inner self and put those impressions on canvas. I love spending time in this exquisite nature to make my thoughts find their own way. I feel so blessed to live in this beautiful country. I hope the bright colours in my paintings speak about how colourful life should be and growth of our inner self.”
She has created many beautiful scenic sights like Vancouver’s fall, her painting ‘Dusk at Stanley Park’ is the one of her favourites. “It was my first big canvas painting of size 18” x 24” in acrylic colors. I have created shadows in water, and it looks astonishingly real. The colors have come together magnificently on the canvas and it looks very subtle but pleasing to the eyes if you observe it with naked eye. I enjoyed creating this as I took some time to paint each step slowly and mindfully. This was created for the art exhibition currently happening in Michael Wright Art Gallery of Port Coquitlam and is displayed there until April 2022.”
Sneha says she feels lucky to be part of generation, where the exposure to electronic devises was minimum. She feels working with real colours removes “fear of exploring new thing.”
For her painting and colouring is not just passion but an experience of life that teaches you different life lessons. She advices all the parents to let their kids explore the fun of real colours instead of virtual paints, “The colors have a positive impact on a child’s mind. The thought that makes them think- that they can make or create something beautiful out of it by their own hands which is appreciated by several people is terrific. Through this process they learn so many things such as being patient, facing the challenge, finishing the task on hand, never be afraid of the result, but work hard to achieve the best out if it. The most important factor in today’s life is to distract them from the virtual world and engage in the actual process of creation.”
