About me
Hi I'm Dnyanada and I'm so glad you are here. My name in Sanskrit means "Saraswati", the Goddess of wisdom and creativity.
My creative life began as a toddler, when I was gifted a box of crayons which I used to scribble on the walls of our house. My grandfather was a very talented, self taught, full time artist and through all my school holidays in the '80s, he taught me many drawing and watercolor techniques.
His spacious bungalow in central India, which he had designed himself, was a delight of surprises and arty nooks. There was a dark room, clay studio with life size statues, a fragrant lush garden with an Italian style fountain designed by him.
One summer night, while we all slept under the open, starry sky outside the house, there was an attempted burglary. They left empty handed as they couldn’t find any valuables. A serene Buddha painting had concealed the locker like a camouflage.
The insight that Art can be a blindspot for some and using a painting as a firewall for safety, such a genius mind!
Art was a huge part of my childhood and my happy place. After school, it was completely forgotten and fully lost as I chose to graduate in Physics, an MBA in Marketing and a career in Advertising & Media Management.
Circa 2017, I was at crossroads in life, I felt a nudge inside me to free myself from a successful career and hectic job to do something more meaningful and consulted a career transition coach.
After a deep dive discovery session, I was advised to pursue Art as a fulltime career. I was very sceptical about this, so I just ignored the advise and did nothing about it.
I was doing Tarot readings as a professional then (long story for another time). A few months later, I found an artist on social media, she had just launched a course on painting your own Oracle card deck. That really got me fired up and so inspired to create.
I found my long lost first love again! My interest in Tarot and Oracle cards got me back into Art! Funny how all roads led me back to the same place.
Looking back, it was a Soul Calling to create. On the first day, as I was simply making color swatches, I felt a sense of joy that I had not experienced in a very long time. And I realised that art was healing my undiagnosed depression, with no side effects.
That was like a warm feeling of coming home after being lost in the cold for many decades. I had accidentally discovered the healing power of art and creativity.
I enjoy a good cup of tea, find harmony in beauty, value deep conversations and feel very alive with a brush in my hand. Creating art and the challenge of trying something new is what brings me joy.
I’m constantly trying new themes, techniques and styles. I love telling stories with acrylic paint, inks, collage, soft pastels and textures.
My mixed media art has nature based themes with flowers, birds, landscapes. I also love creating mystical feminine figures in watercolour and soft pastels.
As an artist, I enjoy the freedom to create and escape into an imaginary world which exudes a sense of peace and joy.
Color harmony and intuition is at the heart of my creative process as it helps capture many moods and connects to my soul.
I'm also very interested in experimenting with natural pigments and create my own handmade paint with recycled temple flowers.
These days it’s so much easier for me to put into paint and brush strokes what is tough to put into words. You can browse the Gallery to view some of my art.
And do drop a line, I'd love to hear from you!
Jamun Butterflies
A glimpse of my experiments with handmade paints with recycled temple flower pigments. Featured here is an earthy handmade acrylic paint using Jamun and Aparajita flowers. Lavender essential oil adds a completely new dimension. I paint with flowers so they will not die.
The Violinist
Circa 1987. My first ever watercolor painting in collaboration with my grandfather.
If you have any questions or you'd like to commission art, feel free to connect.