Artists’ Corner: Sandhya Vaidyanathan

The creations of the brand ‘Masala Popsicles’ are a glorious marriage between kitsch and traditional designs with a myriad of bright colours and hues. You are very much attracted to the various bold shades once you set your eyes on them. Masala Popsicles is the brainchild of the architect cum interior designer turned artist Sandhya Vaidyanathan who was sweet enough to spare some of her precious time for this online interview. Her portraits are so realistic be them painted or digital. She sure leaves her signature in all the pieces by giving them a quirky twist as well. Sandhya painstakingly creates each and every piece that leaves her studio, with her own hands. It is such a comforting pleasure that dawns upon the onlookers when they view the intricate and colourful details that she paints on various surfaces like trays, jewellery organizers, jewellery boxes or name boards- she surely sprinkles pixie dust and magic on them. She is also a restoration artist who brings back to life, old boxes called “azhakupetti” from their faded former glory in fresh colours. Let us now listen to her artistic travails!

Sandhya Vaidyanathan (Courtesy: http://masalapopsiclesart.weebly.com)

Q. Please introduce yourself to us.

A: I’m Sandhya vaidyanathan. I’m based out of Bangalore and I’m an artist.

Q. How did you decide to transition from an architect cum interior designer to an artist creating customised products?

A: I was practicing as an Architect before I got married. Marriage brought me to Bangalore and since I was new in the city , I decided that maybe I should start something of mine own. I’ve always loved to paint and I’ve learnt art. So I decided to use my skills and that how I started customizing products. A family friend asked me to make a nameboard for them and that’s how I got my first order .

Q. What does your brand name Masala popsicles signify? I am sure it must be something close to your heart. Please do share it with us.

A: Actually , I was looking for a quirky name when I started my FB page and I was thinking of something that represented colors and fun and that reminded me of the Golawala and his cart and the colorful bottles he has and that’s how the name “Masala Popsicles” came about.

Q. Please tell us about the different art pieces that you passionately and painstakingly craft with your own hands. How does the creative process take place?

A: I make several pieces of art, mostly a lot of portraits of couples and also large family portraits of 10 members etc. People also love getting jewellery boxes and trays with coasters made because it’s so quirky and also custom made to their tastes. People come through word of mouth or Instagram and my FB page and enquire that they want till get something made and once we discuss ideas and concerts and budgets I send them an invoice and after the transfer is made I queue them up into my work schedule.

Through the process of making it I keep sending them pictures and updates to keep them involved.

Q. Where do you derive the inspiration for such beautiful works of art?

A: Mostly my inspiration comes from my state of mind or a color I’m currently crushing on .. my patterns are mostly inspired by nature .. I love painting flowers, birds and Indian patterns and I’m known for my loud bright colors.

Q. What are some of the most popular items that clients want from your studio? What is it that attracts them to your store?

A: I’m a perfectionist and I don’t send out an item unless I’m convinced about how it’s made. And people like that..they are very thrilled that a concept in their head can be made into a product or an old wedding picture can be recreated. The most popular items are the portraits.

Q. Any advice you would like to give to aspiring artists who would like to follow your path?

A: Be true to yourself and your art and never ever send out shoddy work. You must fall in love with what you make before you send it out to a customer. And always ensure you get paid for your work before you start the project.

Q. How can people reach you?

A: I’m available on my phone at +91-8147299663.

Instagram at @masalapopsiclesart and on Facebook as Masala Popsicles- Weaving colourful stories.

We really hope that Sandhya will continue to create more and more stunning works like these in all the years to come!Thank you for spending some time with us!

Please note: All the artwork shown here are the sole property of the artists featured. All rights reserved to the artist.

Note: Please do not use any content (both writing and images) anywhere without the written permission of the author. All rights reserved to the author.

Mini blog interview by Kick in the creatives

I am so happy to share that I have been interviewed by Kick in the creatives for their blog on artists who are participating in their art challenges. It is a mini interview that has totally made my day!! Please do read the whole interview here. Thanks a lot to Kick in the creatives! Lots of love!

You can read the interview of Kick in the creatives directors Tara Roskell and Sandra Busby here. Do check it out.

Note: Please do not use any content (both writing and images) anywhere without the written permission of the author. All rights reserved to the author.

Artists’ Corner: Tara Roskell & Sandra Busby

Today at the Artists’ Corner, we have not one but two, artistically inclined friends Tara Roskell who is a graphic designer and Sandra Busby, a painter. They successfully run a fun filled website ‘Kick in the creatives‘ (a site about which I have mentioned in different posts frequently) together, with podcasts on various subjects relating to art and interviews with artists as well as blog posts on art related topics. The cherry on the cake is a cartload of online challenges for artists and writers to undertake, right from January to December- yes, the whole year round! They are all listed out with optional prompts so that one can never miss any of those challenges! Instagram is a great platform to come in contact with many such inspirational artists who are kind enough to grant an interview. I keep repeating this because I feel so overwhelmed and touched by their kind gesture. So, let us get to know these friends and their artistic pursuits!

Sandra Busby & Tara Roskell

Q. Hello Tara and Sandra!! Please introduce yourselves to the readers.

Tara: Hi Shilpa. I’m Tara Roskell, I’ve been a graphic designer for about 25 years and I now work freelance from home. I’m based in a village in Northamptonshire in England.

Sandra: Hi Shilpa. I’m Sandra Busby and I’m a Painter from East Sussex in the South of England. I love to capture the playful light in glass and other Still-Life.

Q. How did you recognise the art in you and realise that this was the path you would want to follow?

Sandra: I’m what you might call a ‘late bloomer!’ Although I was always drawing as a kid (I think we all do), I pretty much stopped at about the age of 15 and I didn’t pick up a pencil again until I was in my late 20’s. I was actually in my early 30’s before I started taking it seriously again and I’ve never looked back.

Tara: I always knew that I wanted to do something to do with art from a very young age. I was constantly drawing when I was a child. I stayed on at school to do A Levels including art and then went on to Art College. I absolutely loved the first year of art college it was so creative, but the second year was not so good. I really wasn’t sure which direction to take my art and one of the tutors suggested I might like to study Graphic Design. I’m still not sure if that was the right path, or if I should have studied fine art or illustration instead.

Sandra’s realistic paintings

Q. How did both of you come together to collaborate? How did the venture Kick in the creatives happen? Please tell us about your friendship story. 

Sandra: Tara contacted me following an interview with me, which she had heard on another Podcast. She asked if I would be willing to be a guest on her own show and of course I agreed. Tara made me feel instantly at ease and we just seemed to hit it off straight a way! A connection had been made… I had finally met someone as bonkers as I am!

We kept in contact and over time we discovered that we have a very similar sense of humour, so a conversation between the two of us became quite an uplifting experience! After a while she invited me to co-host one of her ‘Idea Medic’ podcast episodes. One episode led to several more and in time we became genuine friends. We where texting and chatting over the phone about all things creative and sometimes not creative at all!

During a previous podcast episode that we had done together, we had set each other various creative challenges and we had a great time doing them. I think we were both a bit sad when they ended. One day during one of our conversations we began talking about how great it would be to create a site where people could find all of the most popular challenges under one umbrella, along with lots of brand new ones which we could host ourselves. We decided that a great way of doing this would be to have various challenges going on for each month. This way it gave people lots of choice. This was around early Autumn and we worked our socks off to launch it in time for the new year! The work involved for the two of us was phenomenal, but we managed to do it!

Along with the site and blog, we launched our own ‘Kick in the Creatives’ Podcast and we have a lot of fun with that too. And then came the Facebook group which has become very popular in a very short space of time.

We have a lot more plans to develop the site further, so watch this space!

Q. What do you do at Kick in the creatives?

Sandra: Tara and I share the load and the great thing is, we are each good at different things. What she is good at, I am not and what I’m good at Tara doesn’t enjoy so much! Tara is particularly good at the ‘techy’ stuff. I’m good at producing content. For that reason alone, we make a great team!

KITC aims to get people out there creating, even when they think they don’t have the time. It’s about making people accountable. It also offers a platform where all of the participants can cheer each other on and where they can share the work they produce for the challenges. The Facebook group has been particularly good for that.

Tara’s works

Q. What are the different media that you work with?

Tara: For graphic design work, I do everything digitally. For the art I create by hand, I am experimenting at the moment. I find that I enjoy media where I can draw with colour directly rather than using a brush, for example, wax watercolour crayons and watercolour pencils. Then I can apply water afterwards to create effects. I have also been enjoying using collage. Sandra and I are very different in the way we approach art. Sandra has already discovered what she loves to paint and a method she enjoys. She paints beautiful, highly detailed paintings, whereas I like to draw/paint quickly and more experimentally.

Sandra: I personally work with oils when I’m painting, but usually when I draw, I use a 2b pencil and that’s it! I’m not one to experiment a great deal. Tara is much better at that!

Q. Where do you derive your inspiration from?

Sandra: I’m inspired to paint, usually by shiny or reflective objects. For this reason, glass features heavily in my work. My sketchbook however seems to be full mainly of faces and figures! Maybe it’s because I don’t paint them… I just love drawing them!

Tara: Everywhere. For example, I’ve have created little cartoon characters by photographing everyday things and drawing over the top of them digitally. Ideas for cartoons also come from silly things that I notice in everyday life. Inspiration can also come from other artists or people suggesting things to you. For instance, Sandra recently suggested I try using Inktense crayons and then spraying them with water, a technique I hadn’t tried before.

Q. How has being in constant touch with art developed you?

Tara: I had really lost my love for creating art by hand for many years. It was only through connecting with Sandra and the two of us trying out some creative challenges that really got me enjoying creating art again. So if we hadn’t had “met” virtually speaking, I probably wouldn’t be drawing or painting now, apart from the odd digital cartoon.

Sandra: It’s actually very hard to be in ‘constant’ touch with art. Life tends to get in the way, doesn’t it? And this is where taking part in some of these challenges has been so helpful to me. There is rarely a day that goes by when I don’t draw at least something, even it only takes five minutes! Since creating the site with Tara, drawing is now a daily part of my life because through the challenges I have found a great way of fitting it in.

Sandra’s paintings

Q. Any piece of advice that you would like to give other artists?

Sandra: Yes, absolutely! Draw something every single day! Even just five minutes a day can greatly improve your skills over time. If you are not that self-disciplined then take part in some of the challenges… It’s a fantastic way of getting inspired!

Tara: If you are lacking creative mojo, think back and try and remember what it was that you used to love about art. Join a group or a challenge with other artists that will encourage you along the way. Experiment with different media and most of all enjoy it.

Tara’s creative works

Q. How can others reach you both?

Sandra: We always love to hear from other creative’s.

You can find us at the following places…

• Website:                      Kick in the Creatives
• Podcast:                       Kick in the Creatives
• Email:                           howdy@kickinthecreatives.com
• Facebook Page:           Kickinthecreatives
• Facebook group:         Kickinthecreatives
• Twitter:                        @KickCreatives
• Pinterest:                   Kick in the Creatives

Thank you dear Sandra and Tara to have devoted some time from your busy schedules to talk to us!! May your kitty be always filled with art projects!!

Please note: All the artwork shown here are the sole property of the artists featured. All rights reserved to the artist.

Note: Please do not use any content (both writing and images) anywhere without the written permission of the author. All rights reserved to the author.

Artists’ Corner: Shilpa Lalit

This time, the artist interview (online) is tad exciting for me because it comes with a little twist -the artist coincidentally shares my name “Shilpa” :). Her paintings have a surreal charm to them that makes you want to look at them like, forever- be it the enchanted world series or her 2016 Inktober series. She is a popular youtuber who uploads videos of her creative processes along with tips for beginners on her channel Artyshils Art with over 10k subscribers. It is amazing to see gorgeous ladies and handsome hunks take shape on her blank canvases in a riot of colours. Shilpa even has her own online art academy ‘Artyshils Art Academy’. How cool is that? Now, over to Shilpa.

Shilpa Lalit

Q: Please tell us a little about yourself and where you are currently based.

A: Hii, my name is Shilpa Lalit and I am from Pune, India, currently based in Brussels, Belgium. I am an acrylic painting and a mixed media artist. I have a bachelors degree in fine arts from Nagpur University, India and my original art and fine art prints can be found with various private collectors around the world. I am also the founder and the content creator of my passion project, my online art school :- Artyshils Art Academy, where I teach and share various workshops on how to draw and paint, which are once again enjoyed by a beautiful bunch of people from all corners of the globe.

Q: How did you recognize the artist in yourself? Did you undergo any formal education in art?
A: Actually my mother recognized the artist in me since I was very little and made sure that I attended each and every possible art workshop around our house, during my summer vacations. So every summer vacation, I would spend learning various art forms , right from drawing , painting, rangoli, mehandi and just about anything. And further I even ended up doing a 4 years bachelors degree in fine arts, which was also my mother’s vision for me and I am so grateful to her for everything, as I couldn’t have asked for a better life than that of an artist, that I currently get to live.

Q: When did you first start your youtube channel Artyshils Art and how did this idea materialize?

A: I had initially started another art YouTube channel just for fun in around 2011. In that channel I was just experimenting with my videos and playing around and there was nothing serious. Slowly I started building following over there and people started recognizing and appreciating my work. But around 1.5 years back I thought of leaving that channel , to start my current channel :- “Artyshils Art” , as I was not happy wiith the quality of videos on my old channel. I wanted each and every video on my channel to represent ME and I should be proud of it, right from the production quality to its paintings. So that’s why I started “Artyshils Art” , where I currently upload my art videos and paintings.

Q: Currently you run a successful online art school artyshils  art academy. How happy are you with the progress?

A: When I had started Artyshils Art Academy, I told myself that , if only one person joins in my classes, I will make more classes for them. And by god’s grace , way more then one joined my academy and I am so grateful that I get to share my knowledge with them. But this is just a start and AAA has a long way to go and many many more students to serve. So if I become happy with the current progress, then how will we grow !! I always wish to serve as many art lovers as I can through my Academy.

Q: Can you briefly explain the working of your classes for interested art lovers?

A: With ALL the classes of Artyshils Art Academy, I make sure that I explain right from all the materials used to all the techniques used, to how to draw the drawing of that particular painting in absolute detail. After we know all that basics, then we move on to learning the painting with in depth explanation , step by step from start to finish. My goal with every class of AAA is to not only teach one particular painting, but to give the students the basics and techniques, that they can use to create their own original artworks and bring their own imagination to life. AAA is my passion project, so I make sure to give it all the love and energy I can and therefore, even the testimonials from the students of AAA till now have been just beautiful, which once again, I am so very grateful for.

Thank you dear Shilpa for sharing your story with us!! We wish you all the best.May you scale greater heights in the world of art.

Guys please follow this super talented artist.

The link to her website : www.artyshils.com
and her Academy :- www.artyshilsartacademy.com
Facebook group :- https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtyshilsArt/

Please note:All the artwork shown here are the sole property of the artist featured. All rights reserved to the artist.

Note: Please do not use any content (both writing and images) anywhere without the written permission of the author. All rights reserved to the author.

 

Artists’ Corner: Archana Sehgal

As I promised, the section Artists’ Corner is here!! Artists need motivation to keep creating beautiful works. It may be in any form-verbal as in, a few words of appreciation, written form or even a small token that says that they are acknowledged for all their hard work. It helps us churn our creative juices even more fervently and bring our artistic dreams and pursuits to fruition. So I decided to come up with this segment ‘Artists’ Corner’ where I will be interviewing (online or otherwise when i get a chance) budding, upcoming artists as well as well-established artists whose works I adore. Let us all take part in appreciating these wonderful talents and boost their morale!

Another factor that led me into this was that I got to acquaint myself with many wonderful artists through Instagram and they were so sweet as to grant me interviews. You can speak with anyone at realtime -the perks of being on social media!! The world has become so small, so much that anyone and everyone are accessible at one’s fingertips. Idea sharing has helped us bring a lot of like-minded people together and we get to imbibe a lot of positivity from their works and get inspired.

The first ever artist that I am going to introduce here is Archana Sehgal, a self taught artist who runs a Youtube Channel Archu’s Art World. Incidentally, her name starts with A, the first letter of the alphabet and the first artist to be featured. A coincidence?? She not only experiments with paints but also with crafts. Let us hear the story in her own words.

Q: Please tell us something about yourself.

A: My name is Archana Sehgal. I am a self taught artist. I am always looking for new techniques to try my hand on. My style of work is evolving one. I explore different types of painting techniques and mediums, but mostly use acrylic paints because I feel it is the easiest medium. I don’t follow any rules for creating art. I like to go with the flow. Recently, I fell in love with mixed media technique. Since I believe in recycling things, that’s what I do in most of my mixed media projects. My paintings are in abstract style and often contain bold, bright and vibrant colors, I love the idea of layering several colors , patterns and textures into painting. I personally feel creating art is strongest way to express yourself and your visualization. I have participated in multiple exhibitions to display my art work and have received awards in painting competitions. It encourages me to paint more and more with feedback from others on my art. Slowly, I have grown on social platform where I am sharing my learning with others and trying to spread the techniques more and more to the outside world.. Being an Artist, it’s an amazing feeling when you have ability to see images and put them on canvas through brush strokes…

Archana Sehgal

Q: You run a popular Youtube Channel “Archu’s Art World” with over 3000 (3.2k to be precise) subscribers. How did the idea of starting such a channel come to you?

A: I got courage to start my own channel from my hubby because it was he, who encouraged me to start and film videos. Also after looking at the channels of my inspirations Bob Ross, Donna Dewberry, Milind Mullick and many more others, that was the biggest move I had ever done. When I started, I just uploaded videos and actually wasn’t doing anything to build my channel. So it grew very very slow. After hearing that people actually enjoyed what I was doing, then I took it a bit more seriously and joined other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.. People are appreciating my work and that really helps me a lot to do more videos on abstract paintings, mixed media paintings, altered art and DIY’s.

Q: As an artist, how has youtubing changed you over the years since its conception?

A: As an artist, definitely Youtube has changed my life. Very few people know that I wasn’t a full time artist. I did MCM ( Masters in computer management ), was doing office job and then I took art as a career for the past 4-5 years. So the biggest change I find in myself is that I now actually have real work that satisfies me from within, because I am pursuing my passion. I was so so happy when I reached first 100 subscribers on my channel that really gave boost to my creativity. I also get a lot of energy and encouragement, when I get mails from my subscribers saying that they are waiting for my next upload, and how useful they found my videos were. This is such a great feeling that I cannot thank my subscribers enough. Now, Youtube is an essential part my life. So, yeah Youtube changed and as well as helped me grow as an artist.

Q: You frequently post videos of mixed media paintings. What medium do you prefer working with?

A: Mixed media painting is an art form where we use more than one medium. So for this kind of painting, mostly I use drawing inks along with acrylic paints, charcoal pencil or colored ink pens.

Q: Besides paintings, what other projects do you do?

A: Beside paintings, I love doing crafts like making statues and murals using ceramic and mseal, miniature trees. Also I love to recycle packaging cardboard from which I made small drawers for storing art n craft related materials. I will definitely make videos on this in the future.

Q: Your Youtube channel is a huge gallery in itself with 100 painting challenges, art journalling etc.. are these ways of keeping yourself creative all the time?Where do you get the challenges from?

A: Definitely those challenges keep me creative always. I generally get challenges from my hubby and biggest challenge was 100 paintings challenge that is still on ( done 64, still 36 to go). Rest things are like I said, I like to explore. Whenever I want to try a new technique or new product like color, stencil or stamp then I use that to make art journal page. Recently, I finished a challenge of Inktober 2017 which was a global collaboration of multiple artists to create drawing everyday for 31 days. Though I have not filmed the videos for inktober drawings, I have posted those drawings on my other social media platforms. Doing inktober challenge gave me a lot of confidence and  helped me develop drawing habits and nurture my skills.

Q: How do you rate yourself as an artist?

A: Maybe 8 out of 10… because still there is lot more to learn and explore.

Q: How can interested art lovers contact you?

A: You can find works here:

YouTube: Archu’s Art World ( https://www.youtube.com/c/Archanasehgalposts )

Facebook page: Archu’s Art World ( https://www.facebook.com/ArchusArtworld)

Instagram: archana.sehgal (https://www.instagram.com/archana.sehgal/ )

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SehgalArchana

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ArchusArtWorld

Thank you so much for spending time with us Archana and for sharing your journey with us! We wish you all the best for your future endeavours. Keep creating, keep inspiring!!

Please note that the pictures shown here are the sole property of the artist featured and all rights reserved to the artist.

Note: Please do not use any content (both writing and images) anywhere without the written permission of the author. All rights reserved to the author.