2011 Onwards...
A chance encounter with a stranger changed everything. And I started to paint!
Many regulars to Studio PAUSE are surprised to see printouts of paintings, and postcards with pictures of them lying around the studio after a bout of cleaning/organizing.
“Whose work is this,” someone asked.
“Mine,” I said.
“When did you do it? I have never seen these and I am here often.”
“They are from before the Studio,” I said. I guess my work was different “Before the Studio” (BTS?)
Those paintings now hang in homes and offices around the region. Some, luckily, I get to see when I visit friends whereas some I will never see again. And during the pandemic I haven’t even seen the ones I often frequent as I haven’t gone to my friend’s houses. Tannia said once that I was still grieving for one which was bought by someone I didn’t know, so I had no chance of ever seeing it again. I never forgot that.
Recently I told a friend how lucky we creative people were because we could look at our old work and find it brings us great joy and a renewed energy during the anxious and depressing times of the pandemic. So when Yuri was making prints of my new work, I decided to bring back some of the old ones as prints. I hope you enjoy them.
Oh, and you can read the story of the chance encounter with the stranger here!
Monsoon Windows
Mixed media on paper, 2012. In the collection of Ketan Dholakia and Shalini Razdan.
My first artwork to be framed for a show, Monsoon Windows was created in 2012 and accepted into a show at The Art League, in Alexandria VA. In this photo I stand with my dear friend and mentor, artist Kathleen James Avila who came to see it.
This was also the first artwork in which I found Devanagari script appear in the form of my favorite song lyrics from Hindi movies! The song is Barso Re Megha Megha, from the movie Guru. You can watch the video here!
BUY the print.
Print Size: 16 x 20 (matted 20 x 24 in) : $ 140.00
Lost & Found
mixed media on paper, 2012. In a private collection.
I painted this artwork inspired by the powerful ink brushstrokes of Japanese paintings I have studied and given tours of in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, where I have been a docent since the year 2000. I also tried out an old Japanese technique of embossing from the back certain parts of the painting where there was metallic paint, the raised surface glimmering as they caught the light. My teacher, Marsha Semmel, and the class seemed to like it. That day after class I took it to the studio. There I printed out my poem Lost & Found on my colorful collection of Korean Hanji paper and collaged it on to look like a city skyline. When I took it back the class was surprised!
I shared a studio space at Convergence, Alexandria, in those days and studio mate Rusty told me I must join Arlington Artists Alliance, where he was a member. So in Jan 2013 I joined and entered this artwork, fresh from my solo show, in their show Walk the Line. Soon I heard that it won the Best in Show award! In March that year it hung at Cassat’s in Arlington (photo, left) and then it was sold! When the show came down my husband and I wrapped it up and drove it to an address in Falls Church. I have never seen it since.
BUY the print.
Print Size: 16 x 20 (matted 20 x 24 in) : $ 140.00