One of the hardest things to do in life is to be completely yourself in every breathing moment. Because most of the time, we don’t even know what we like and what we want to be. And even if we know, the perceived judgement of the rest of the world is enough to make us all cocoon in our shells. On top of that, if we consider the humungous expectations the world has from each individual, the pressure would be enough to extinguish all hope. However, if we use our innermost sanctum to mine for motivation, there is nothing we won’t be able to face. Creativity is not just confined to a tangible output, it happens whenever you are unabashedly yourself. 

Mona Biswarupa Mohanty is an extremely dexterous illustrator, designer and artist who has creativity embedded in every fibre of her being. She has rid herself of the end-result in her modus operandi. Realising how impermanent and fragile life is is the way to achieve this in our lives. Mona uses this as her motivation to relentlessly create. Think about it, we can never be assured of any outcome in the world, so it doesn’t make sense ruining our peace over it!

To her art is an all-round internal experience. What pours off from the creator’s deep experiences touches the receiver’s soul in a way unique to them. And that creates a bond outlasting both time and space. Art is anything which is pinned with perception. All her work is a celebration of humanity and femininity.

So where did it all start?

It is understandably hard to focus inside if the outer environment doesn’t support it. You can’t grow a plant under hostility. Fortunately, Biswarupa had been inundated with celebrations and art right from her childhood which she spent in Baripada, Odisha. Every single day, instrumentalists, musicians, singers and players would gather in her house and set the stage. Her father Sri Sangram Keshari Mohanty was a great poet whom she always tried to emulate. 

She clearly remembers the day she found her calling. She found her father’s assortment of writing inks and her mother’s aalta and decided to paint with them. And a handy stick became her brush. In a way, the art of her parents created hers too. At the age of 13, she received formal training from her Guru, Artist Sri Shyam Prasad Pattanaik. 

In a bold move, she left her grad course halfway to pursue fashion design. And after that, she obtained degrees from NIFT, Delhi and the Istituto Europeo di Design, Milan. She worked in the design industry for the better part of a decade when she decided to take another leap of faith.

A full-time Art Career

While living as a full-time designer in Dubai, a bit of homesickness and a lot of availability of time made her pick up the brushes again. On a whim, she attended a sketching event which revitalised her spirit for fine arts. The paintings she created during this period are those most special to her.

With no dearth of support from her husband and family, she stepped forth and stepped inwards. And she has never stopped creating. Yes, her path wasn’t smooth, the obstacles could have crushed her soul. But that is where she uses the mantra, “Create to express and not impress”. The reality is that art is incredibly subjective, what suits one’s liking may not support another’s. But in such conditions, your motivation should never fail you.

She says

“That very day I realized validation is not everything in this journey called art. I know it is a long journey and it may take me a couple of lifetimes to be able to even scratch the surface of  Art. I decided to slow down and enjoy this journey. . That shift in my thinking has really helped me. I am in no rush to reach any destination. My journey is my own, and I can’t compare it with anyone else’s. The only desire I have is to keep creating till my last breath because that is what makes my heart and soul happy.  Only when you create artwork with joy, it can spread joy in the hearts of the beholder. “

Mona Biswarupa Mohanty

Her message to all aspirants..

• Identify your gift. There are millions of people in the world who have no idea what they are passionate about. If you know what your passion is , you should consider yourself lucky. Once you have identified your passion, and when you feel you are ready for it, jump into it as if there is no plan B . Remember there will be obstacles.. but obstacles are the things that you see when you take your eyes off the goal. 
• It is never too late to begin a new journey .. if you truly believe in it. 
• Daily practice, sadhna orriyaz is the key to success. Nothing can replace this. 
• Keep learning, no matter what age and  how much experience you have . We all have something to learn from each other.  Never be a full vessel .. be the one that is half full so that you have space for some newness to be poured in. 
• Last but not the least… life is too short to work on your weaknesses.. rather focus on your strength and make it stronger. We all have a superpower.. but it works for you only if you work for it. 

So we suggest, take these lessons from the master herself!

For artist/illustrator Hricha Nilawar art happened quite recently. In fact, she studied Animation and Visual Effects and worked as a Stereo Compositor. Her work in the post-productions consisted of converting 2D movies into 3D. But things changed, and she shifted lanes. Today she is the owner of the Instagram page @quirky_cloud filled with adorable illustrations that will melt your heart!

She was born in a Pusad, Yavatmal district in Maharashtra. Since a young age, she loved dancing, reading books and of course, drawing! While her life in India was great, the chance to switch fields arrived when she moved to Berlin in 2013. And sure, there were a lot of struggles there, but it was 2018 that the revelation of becoming an artist hit her.

Being a mother, she wanted to make the first birthday of her daughter special. Hricha wanted to gift her something that she could cherish for the rest of her life. But they (she and her husband) couldn’t find anything that sparked that sort of emotion. So, she created something absolutely beautiful – a personal book filled with memories of her first year. The process filled her with joy. Soon she started illustrating every day and her work as an artist began.

 Pascal Champion is one of her favourite illustrators. The warmth and optimism, the lust of life in his work have always inspired her. In fact, he too played a small part in the creation of the Instagram handle ‘quirky-cloud’! As she started exploring illustration as a career, she found out about Pascal Champion’s 3-day workshop in Spain. Her husband gifted her the chance to attend it while taking care of their toddler. And it was during this workshop that something clicked! In her flow, she created incredible illustrations and posted them on Instagram.

@Quirky_cloud is a page focusing on the positives of life by appreciating the little things that spark joy inside us. She believes this to be the point of resonance for her audience with her art.

As Hricha Nilawar puts it quite accurately, one is not enough to create good art consistently. The joy of the process comes from within. But in all success stories, failure is inevitable. At last, it is small failures which teach us lessons proving to be the stepping stones in our path to success. Her first experience with digital art was so bad that she stopped drawing for 6 months straight! She had bought an Ipad after receiving appreciations on her initial art. Having loads of art supplies around wasn’t practical considering she had a toddler. So, she buckled up and did her daily practice. In the end, sticking to the rigorous regime paid off!

Even though she’s been lucky enough to have a supportive environment in both her families, societal influences got to her. If not for that, she would have been a professional classical dancer. During the time of making decisions, Unknown constraints of expectations made her feel like 9-5 jobs were better than becoming a freelancer. Yet today, as a freelancer illustrator she continues to live her dream.

Apart from artistry, Hricha Nilawar also enjoys travelling. Travelling has allowed her to get out of her comfort zone, doing things she never imagined herself to do! Skydiving over the beaches of Portugal and flying a microlight aeroplane in Germany, a solo trip around Europe and scuba diving in Spain – all a part of this dream. But none of this compares to the kind of courage it took to get through one of the most difficult times in her life – losing a child. It was one of the hardest things she’d had to do in her life. They had to let go of their child in very late pregnancy because of medical complications. But bad times end as good times come. A year later she gave birth to her now, 3.5-year-old daughter.

Despite all her struggles, personal and career-wise, Hricha Nilawar is paving her own way to success. Her advice to young artists and aspirants in pursuit of their passion is to not give up and work on your inner strength. You have to find your originality n the world of trends. Strive to find the right balance between what the external voices convey and what your inner voice tells you.

Some of her beautiful illustrations!

Since time immemorial thinkers, poets, philosophers and theorists have burnt the midnight oil trying to arrive on one absolute definition of ‘art’. And as a plethora of varied perspectives emerged, they did condense into one summative phrase: Objets trouvés. The phrase translates into ‘found objects’. And what it means is that art is anything which is formed, either by creation or by perspective. But when we generally think of ‘art’, our mind goes down the familiar path of ‘fine art’. However, art is a lot more; it is an experience.

Tanisha Bakshi is a master at creating these experiences. Winner of the Miss India Artist of the Year Award in 2018, Bakshi has always been bold. Born and brought up in the national capital, she grew up imbibing the paintings of her father. Her natural affinity was heightened in high school during which time she became certain of pursuing an art career. One expects every high-achieving student to go down the beaten career track. And so, after achieving 97% in her board exams, everybody expected Tanisha to pursue commerce further. But she was bold in her choice. 

She took formal training in 2014 and has been working from her studio in Gurgaon ever since. The boldness of her choices is also reflected in her work. Most of her work is centred around rural and underdeveloped areas of our country. And in her spare time, she cooks and provides meals to the impoverished. In 2016, she founded an NGO called the Annsagar Foundation. Her efforts led to more than 2500+ food boxes being delivered every day during the pandemic. 

Her Artistic Journey

She uses her artistic expertise to represent the lives of the people living in the Choma Village, she documents their lives, conducts thorough research and portrays their expectations and condition. The general perception is that appreciating art is an acquired taste, many people of our country cannot ‘afford’ to think about it when they have mouths to feed. But this is exactly why it must be made accessible to everyone. Bakshi considers this as a blessing, through her self-expression she achieves spirituality. 

Her relationship with her mother is very important to her. And perhaps this is why she chooses to portray the theme of ‘mother’s love’ in all her work. She is an expert at creating extremely realistic charcoal and paint creation. Her life and her creations teaches us many things, it teaches us the importance of never giving up and always giving more! I hope we all find that within ourselves.

From the heritage of glorious temples to the massive forts, artistry is embedded in every inch of our country. Sculpting is a form of art which combines extreme skills with delicate artistry. It’s like solving complicated calculus with the added pressure of making them look effortless and beautiful.

From the bronze age going ahead to the Mauryan empire and to the Cholas and Pandyas in the south, the Indian subcontinent and its many empires have always appreciated and valued craftsmanship. But sadly, in the present age, with the advent of the industrial revolution,  the interest in many art forms has waned. And now the responsibility lies on all of us to restore them in our collective consciousness.

We’ll give you stellar examples of established and emerging sculptors who have used different techniques and materials to carve not only a piece of art but also a niche. 

1. Vishal Kavatekar (@vishal_kavatekar)

Vishal Kavatekar specialises in portrait sculptures of many influential figures. As a sculptor, he uses clay, bronze and many other materials to further his art. And his use of artistic lines and contemporary work is also worthy of a lot of acclaims. With over 1000+ followers on Instagram, his work will provide inspiration to all artistic minds!

2. Chandru (@claycha_)

From Trivandrum, this artist does not hesitate to dive into some surrealism. And his use of B&W will enrapture everybody for sure. He delves into the noir side of things and uses clay expertly to portray the emotions and impressions through his mind-blowing portrait sculptures.

3. Yethin Nagesh (@yethin.77)

Sculptures and idols mean a lot to people. Especially in a religious sense. He creates bronze sculptures that surpass all boundaries. And it is quite a sight to behold. From the Natraj to the Devi, every piece is delicate and divine. Both through his art and its depiction, he is preserving the culture and heritage of our country.

4. Amol Suryavanshi (@suryawanshi___)

Mumbai based Amol is a painter and a sculpture. And dare i say, pretty amazing photographer too. From full-body sculptures to meditating Lord Buddha, he uses clay expertly.

So what are you waiting for? Pick up that hobby and get started!

Nobody has returned from a beach trip without spending at least some ‘sand time’. We love the feeling of coarse sand against our skins. There’s just something very tranquillizing about sinking your feet deep into the sand. Or just sitting and picking up sand as it slowly slips off our palms. Maybe, it’s the rough flecks of sand, melded with the wet coolness. Nevertheless, it’s such a natural instinct. Not just for young kids, but even adults. So, to no surprise, it has inspired artists over centuries to create what’s now called sand art.

When we say sand art, a very vague definition would be moulding sand into artistic forms. Sand art has different forms, each with its own unique charm. Some popular forms are Sand Sculptures, Sand brushing and sand animation.

A Few Types of Sand Art

Sand sculptures are created using beach sand and quarry. Large amounts of water are mixed with sand to give it some structure. Most architectures like this last only for a couple of months unable to withstand nature.

Sand brushing is the act of brushing away sand grains from a static surface to create abstract figures. Animals, human figures and other such shapes are common in this medium.

Sand animation is a series of images displayed with continuity on a lightbox or overhead projector. Usually accompanied by music, this form of sand art involves the artist hand on a surface of the sand. They continuously create structured art in sequence narrating a story.

Some Sand Artists

Let’s take a look some incredible Indian artists practising various forms of sand art.

First, we bring you the well-renowned sand artist who bagged a Guinness world record for his work in 2017, Sudarshan Pattnaik. He is the owner of the Instagram page @sudarshansand, who built the tallest sandcastle in the world. It was 48 feet tall! A common man from Puri, Odisha is now known internationally for his sand art. He has even won the prestigious Padma Shri for his artistry in 2014.

Next up we have Rahul Arya, the sand artist who chased his dreams regardless of the consequences. Though he is an IIT alumnus, he started working full time towards sand art for that was his only passion. He also won the Sony Tv Show, ‘Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega’ and this was his breakthrough. Today he is a successful sand artist living his dreams.

Lastly, we present Badal Barai. He is not only a phenomenal sand artist but also a professor of Commerce in Bangabasi College, Kolkata. He is known majorly for his sand animation, having worked with many major media outlets like Aaj Tak, News Time, etc. Moreover, Dr, Badal Barai has also performed in corporate houses like ITC, Tata Steel, Lakme, Colgate. He has received multiple awards recognizing his incredible work.