by Her paintings make you pause and want to observe the art work in detail. Meet a young mom Arunima Shrivastava who shares with Mums and Stories that she has always been interested in painting. “ I remember , I must have been 5 or 6 years old when I started showing immense interest in drawing and that interest now is ever expanding. As a kid, I used to get super excited seeing the stationary shops, colours and good paintings and I remember imitating the same in my notebook for hours. Furthermore, the people who surrounded me- my grandparents, parents, my sister, my professors, my relatives, friends and now my husband have been highly appreciative of my work. They were and still are constantly motivating me to do it more. So, I give lot of credits to them for whatever little I have achieved so far.
I could never get an opportunity to learn it professionally when I was in my formative years as my father had postings in rural areas where good training facilities were not present. Also, I belong to an era when internet was not available as easily as it is today so the learning was limited. But I am grateful to my parents that they always encouraged me to pursue it no matter what and never ever stop doing it.
During my graduation, I took fine arts as one of the subjects and learnt tremendously during those 3 years.
Till now, I have pursued it as my hobby but I have definite plans to take it up very seriously as I feel my heart always belonged to the fine arts. Of late, I have started taking part in various exhibitions and showcasing my work by leveraging various social media platforms.
Professionally, I hold a doctorate degree in Organizational behaviour from IIT Bombay and I have worked with the consulting firms for almost 7 years. From past three years, I have been writing about Human Resources and Organizational Development for many reputed publications.”
Talking about pursuing her passion of art more vigorously during the Covid era, lockdowns and more of home bound life, Arunima shares, “ Yes! During this lockdown, I have been painting more. This is ironic as I am hardly getting any dedicated time to pursue my passion with all the household chores and two small boys to be taken care of. I usually paint in the night when my little boys are fast asleep. I believe painting has acted as a meditation, a de-stressor for me and has given me some purpose to look upto.”
It was a painting of Krishna that caught our interest and we found out that Arunima has painted him in various forms. She shares, “Since my childhood, I have been fascinated with Krishna, his charisma, his various leelas, and his wisdom – I have painted him in many forms and moods and yet I feel there’s so much more to learn and uncover. I have also seen my grandparents and parents worshipping him so may be that led me to like him more. I think any work of art which depicts Krishna in some way or the other is beautiful- this is like some magic!.”
Talking about art acting as a catalyst in being a destressor Arunima shares, “ I believe any form of art acts as a de-stressor and declutters one’s mind with unnecessary thoughts. This particularly holds relevant in the current scenario where in-person interactions have gone minimal and our reliance on gadgets has increased manifold. Taking up arts in any form will make us more creative, happier and more at peace. I highly recommend to take up anything, be it writing, music, drawing, gardening, sewing or singing to sail through this tough time with greater ease.
I have two boys, aged 6.5 years and 1.5 years. I think they show lot of interest in drawing and invariably want to paint with my brushes on my canvas. 🙂 I would be very happy if they pursue any form of art in their life as I strongly believe that practising any form of art brings lot of discipline and composure in one’s life.
As of now, I am not teaching it to others as I feel crunched for time, may be little later when my kids grow up and I get little more time to devote to this.
Art for me is extremely divine and transcendental, I aspire to utilize it for a better cause- so whenever I sell any of my work, I utilize that fund to help underprivileged kids. I am associated with one such school where I provide some help by buying them the requisite stationary. However, going forward, I have plans to take up the free classes for them and that would be the purest form of justice I would be able to do to my work.
Art is my passion, my endeavour and a purpose in which I find lot of peace.
Through this platform I want to urge all the parents to constantly motivate their kids to pursue and nurture their interests.
I have studied science till my 12th and was a bright student but then changed my stream from science to arts- lot of people didn’t welcome my decision but my parents stood by me like a pillar and supported me wholeheartedly. I think today whatever mark I have made is because of their trust in me . It is unbelievable but they have preserved all my art work …some being 25 years old.
I would like to conclude this long note by saying that we all have a creative side to our personality, and this creative side can be manifested in variety of ways in professional and personal space. I have chosen colors and canvas to express this side, and you can choose the same or a different medium to do that. But keep that child alive! There is no age to learn and one can learn anything at any age. So be a learner, be a student all your life and try to learn new things when time permits.”
(Photographs are subject to copyright).
Nice story. For learning there is no age limit
Earlier painting was not considered as a great career. I was not allowed. So I did a three years course after my retirement at the age of 62 from Sharjah Art Institute, a government institution.
Laitu AP
Thank you so much sir very glad that you saw some worth in my story. You are a brilliant artist and an inspiration for many of us and we look up to you to keep moving in life by being creative.
Thank you once again.
My regards,
Arunima