As I reflect on my beautiful life in Kuala Lumpur, I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness as this chapter comes to an end. For almost three years, this vibrant city has been my home, a place where I've grown, laughed, and forged incredible friendships.

KL, with its bustling streets and towering skyscrapers, has become a backdrop to countless cherished memories. From exploring the vibrant markets of Chinatown to immersing myself in the city's diverse culinary scene, every moment has been an adventure.

But now, it's time to bid farewell to this city that has captured a piece of my heart. As I prepare to return to London, my beloved home, a mix of excitement and anticipation fills me. I know I'll miss the friends I've made here, the late-night conversations and shared laughter that have woven a tapestry of warmth and companionship.

Yet, I'm eagerly looking forward to this new chapter that awaits me. London, with its historic charm and vibrant cultural tapestry, beckons me back with open arms. I can almost taste the comforting brew of coffee and hear the echoes of bustling streets.

While I embrace the nostalgia that will inevitably wash over me, I know that this transition marks an opportunity for growth and new beginnings. It's a chance to reconnect with familiar places and faces, to rediscover the beauty of my home, and to create new memories that will shape my journey.

As I close this chapter in KL, I carry with me the laughter, the lessons, and the love that have enriched my life. My heart brims with gratitude for the experiences and friendships forged in this city. And with hopeful steps, I walk toward the next adventure, ready to embrace and weave new stories into the tapestry of my life. 

Just when I was thinking that its time to post something in my journal, my lovely daughter sent me this beautiul write up on International Women's day

A LETTER TO MA:

I am not an art lover. I have never been and frankly don’t think I ever will be. 

I am not someone that goes to galleries or shows on the weekends and can gaze adoringly at a painting making comments about the style, texture or message that a certain piece evokes.

That being said, my mother is a wonderful artist and I have grown up surrounded by her work. For a non art lover I have always been able to connect to her work. Why is that I wonder? Is it because she’s my mother and I want to be supportive? Is it because I’ve seen the production of the piece from start to finish, perhaps making me more invested in the final outcome? No, I don’t think so. 

When I look at my mothers’ paintings I see her. I see a vibrant, colourful, passionate woman bursting out of the painting. In the confident brushstrokes laden with paint I see the dedication with which she approaches any task in life. In the epoxied surfaces I see her shiny exterior, the wonderful way in which she loves to dress up for events and is always beautifully turned out. In the bright colours I see her joi de vivre, her endless positivity and joy. 

Her use of sufis in so many of her paintings is also another facet of her personality. My mother is a keen spiritualist and you will always find her with several different books on the subject on the go on her kindle. Many of you will own a painting of hers and will have it proudly hung up in your home. I hope it brings you as much joy and balance as it undoubtedly brought my mother to make it. 

In a weird way when I look at her art I also see me; the shape of the nose or the curve of the lips in some of her figurative pieces. It’s striking seeing a facet of yourself reflected in a piece. It’s you but not quite you at the same time. I think that’s maybe what art lovers gain in their appreciation of the arts. Do they see a reflection of themselves in the works they admire? A glimmer of their core that connects them to a certain painting or artist? Maybe this is the secret to art appreciation. Who knows? I certainly don’t. 

All I know for certain is that painting brings my mother joy. I am beyond proud of her for all of her achievements and for the depth of creativity that she has inside of her. We may be separated by thousands of miles at the moment but I look around my flat and in all of the paintings I have of hers and I am comforted in the knowledge that she is all around me. 

Love you ma!

Little did I expect when returning to London after our 8 years living in Mumbai that we would move again to experience working life in another city. Life has a way of bringing surprises and plans can change quickly.  So here I am as I approach my 50’s making a new home in Kuala Lumpur.

Being an expat is an amazing and a daunting experience.  I get a buzz from the pace at which you have to settle down in a new country where you have to set up a new home, make new friends, understand a new culture and make the most of the opportunities to explore the country and the surrounding region.  As an expat, you tend to quickly meet other expats and the common bond you develop with them can be with you for a lifetime wherever we all end up in the future.  When you live far from your home and family, friends become a valuable lifeline as humans naturally need to socialise wherever they are.  I am grateful to have been blessed with lovely friends everywhere. Friendships that have taken years to form back home happen seemingly to form overnight.  Living abroad always opens up so many new experiences and broadens your mind. I would encourage everyone who gets the opportunity to work abroad to grasp it and I hope that my children will also get this chance as their careers develop. All in all being an expat broadens your horizon and makes you more open minded to new cultures, habits and overall outlook of life. 

Our first move to Mumbai where our kids grew up was a life changing experience for the whole family and we have many cherished memories of our time there.  It was particularly nice for our children to experience a childhood in a country where I too grew up before moving to London in the mid-nineties.  They were able to attend the American School which had one of the most diverse student populations at a time in India where the economy was booming and in some ways was a place where every company seemed to want to establish a base.  

This time, our move to Malaysia was different to Mumbai; we are in a different phase of life as our children are now adults and have their own careers in London.  Being away from them for the first time in all our lives has been difficult and made more challenging with the pandemic restricting our movements.  But given the circumstances, we still made some good friends here and have tried to make the most of the experience so far.  Malaysia is a truly beautiful country and the people are very friendly and easy going.  We look forward to seeing all parts of the country and the nearby region as the situation improves in the year ahead.  

Living in different countries and extensive travelling has helped to inspire my art as I draw a lot of ideas from my surroundings and the beautiful people that I meet.  During the pandemic and the frequent lockdowns, I have been able to focus my energies towards developing new techniques and ideas for my art work.  I hope to take in more of the beautiful countryside and nature in Malaysia and reflect it in my work.  I’m also looking forward to hosting friends and family in KL that we haven’t met for some time to share with them the beautiful experiences we have had here.

 ‘Journey of a Free Soul’ is a collection of paintings of whirling dervishes, practitioners of a mystical form of Sufism. I was drawn to this style of painting due to my strong spiritual leanings and my experience of growing up in a place where different cultures and religious practices co-exist in harmony. The dervishes perform a dance called the Sema; it takes the form of a meditative dance, which represents a symbolic journey to reach one’s inner self. In my work I try to capture the energy of the dancers as they open their arms and rotate rhythmically to the music in a meditative trance.

I recently moved to Kaula Lumpur and I met a freelance Journalist, Charukesi Ramadurai,( http://charukesi.com/ ) who has become a dear friend and the following is an article she wrote after visiting Istanbul.

She could throw a whirling dervish out of whirl. I cannot get this line out of my head and, to my complete dismay, I find myself mentally humming the rest of the song as I watch the four Mevlevi spin in front of me. I mean, here I am at a performance I have been dreaming of ever since I planned the Turkey trip, and I am thinking about Maria and her whirling and whistling abilities? 

A secret turning in us,

Makes the universe turn.

Head unaware of feet,

And feet, head. Neither cares.

They keep turning.

(from The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks)

The entire ritual is based on symbolism, the dancer departing from his ego and turning towards truth and spiritual perfection. The English-speaking guide explains the significance of each element of the performance but his voice fades away from my consciousness as the musicians begin playing in the background. The initial segment is an eulogy to Prophet Mohammed and the sound of the flute (known as the ney, thought to breathe life into all creatures) is especially mesmeric.

After a few minutes, the four dancers enter the room dressed in traditional long, black coats, with tall conical fez on their heads, and greet each other formally three times. As they begin moving, the first step is to remove their cloaks, symbolizing the shedding of ego, or falsehood. The dancers’ arms are open, the right hand directed to the skies, seeking god’s benefaction, and the left hand facing the ground, passing this blessing on to all things around him. The whirling of the dervishes is supposed to replicate the movement of planets revolving around the sun (or, as in this case, god), each rotating on his own axis, while slowly circling around the room. The whirling is anti-clockwise, the minds of the spinning men on meditation mode; Let yourself be silently drawn, by the stronger pull of what you really love (Rumi).

Today the whirling dervish is one of the most visible and popular icons within Turkey, found everywhere from fridge magnets to tea coasters. While weekend performances are popular within Istanbul, the annual ceremony at Konya is on another scale altogether and attracts thousands of Sufi followers from across the world. The lodge where Rumi lived is now a museum and the entire town is a silent and enduring homage to the philosopher-poet.

And Maria, Mother Superior, don’t take this personally, but you just cannot throw a whirling dervish out of whirl.

I hope to visit Istanbul in the near future to watch these supreme beings whirl away!

It’s been a while since I have posted on this platform and I’m pleased to share some of my thoughts on one of my series: JOY of BEING.  It’s a collection inspired by the beautiful faces I see everyday.  Some of them are very captivating and I can study them for hours and imagine the many life experiences in their faces. Some faces are like masks; a lot of emotions are hidden behind them. Whatever the story, every face has its uniqueness.

Portraits to paint are complicated. It’s very hard to capture the emotions that hide behind a face; The most challenging and interesting part of a face are the eyes.  The eyes bring out the inner emotions and feelings of a person. As they say eyes are like a window to a person’s soul.  But how the eyes in a painting turn out can impact the story the image is telling.  Therefore, even if I base a painting on something I have seen, even though its almost identical to the original, it has a different story to tell simply by the way the eyes turn out.

I paint on different surfaces, some of my recent work has been on tiles. The creative process in painting a face is quite simple; After I decide what surface to paint on, I sketch the face lightly with a pencil and then as I go along I decide what colours to use and what medium to go for.  I usually enjoy mixed medium as this gives me the result I am looking for. Sometimes I am completely lost but I am always surprised by the purity of the finished face and very so often they turn out to be like someone I know.  

I always try to paint a joyful face, solely because I believe that whatever you hang on your walls should give out an energy that can instantly lift you up.  I take joy in adorning these faces with bright colours and reflect the energy of the beings I imagine.  Hopefully this write up will make you go back to the gallery and enjoy my paintings.

It’s been almost 13 incredible years since I’ve started painting professionally, although I’ve been sketching and drawing for a lifetime. My journey as an artist has been challenging at times with its highs and lows but through it all I have a deep appreciation for the many lessons that I have learned that have allowed me to grow and develop. I can confidently say that over the past decade or so I have not only evolved as an artist but as a human being as well.

Starting out as an artist, it is quite difficult to find your niche and to be true to your own identity – I think everyone struggles with the search for authenticity. As a beginner you can easily get overwhelmed and not know where to start or even how to begin. However, beginnings are difficult for everyone in all aspects of life, not just for artists! We spend so much time trying to ensure that things start perfectly that we can often be paralysed and hesitant to take those first necessary steps forward. Looking back now, I am so very grateful in my journey in aspiring to become a good artist and in my growth towards spirituality.

For as long as I can remember I have been drawn towards spirituality. I have always been fascinated to learn about what is truth, what is reality and whether there is a God and why there is so much suffering in the world.  Having lived in India where you are surrounded by Gurus that try to answer these questions, your thirst for knowledge is satisfied but at the same time you are filled with doubts. I am a keen reader of books and internet articles on spirituality, visualization and philosophy. Spirituality and art to me is inextricably linked. Painting has taught me that you can’t control everything; whatever happens is for the best and as it was meant to be. All my mistakes during my early learning phase have allowed me to develop tried and tested techniques that are still with me today. And that has taught me to use the same principle in life too – ‘whatever happens, happens for a reason’ and the reason is always for the good.  I always internally visualize myself being good at my work. There are so many experts in this field so its impossible to compete with everyone but putting effort into your work and trying to be authentic makes you shine in what you do.  You have to be a fierce learner and keep adapting.

A painting not only gives an insight into the subject matter but also into the mind of the artist. It is my strong belief that it is not for me to tell you what each painting represents – as they say ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. Each person will look at a painting and get from it a meaning that is completely unique to their own experiences and that is the true fun of painting. What looks to you a certain way will look completely different to another. I love that my paintings hang in different homes across the world. With each painting that departs to its new home I always hope that another family will get as much joy from having the painting in their home as I did in creating it. I have always found that the greatest joy in painting is when you find someone that appreciates your art as much as you do!

The first medium that piqued my interest in painting as a career was silk. It is a truly unique style and I was hooked from the minute I first laid the brush filled with dye on the silk and watched the colours flow and the picture come to life - it can be quite a mesmerizing and meditative process to watch.

The silk is used as the ‘canvas’ or the surface for the paintings; although silk is a delicate fabric, it can be used to create bold, contemporary paintings. Of all the work that I have done silk painting is the one area that I receive the most questions about as it is so unique and people are always fascinated by the technique.

Silk painting requires a staged approach and thus a great deal of patience! The silk is initially cut and stretched over a wooden frame and attached using pins. The artist then draws directly onto the silk using a solvent gutta or water based gutta which acts as a barrier for the dyes and is sued to outline the subject of the painting. The gutta is allowed to dry and then the colourful dyes are applied. When the painting is dry, it is removed from the wooden frame and steamed for 4 to 6 hours. Steaming helps to the set the colours permanently as well as bringing out the vibrancy of the individual hues. Lastly the finished product is pressed and stretched in preparation for framing.

I was fortunate enough to learn the art of silk painting in Mumbai from a friend. She was instrumental in teaching me the basics of the craft and for this I will always be immensely grateful. I spent many years developing my skills in silk painting. I experimented with different types of French silk often using raw silk and patterned silk in my pieces. 

I was initially drawn to this style of painting because it requires a great deal of skill and needs lots of practice to achieve the desired effects. I eventually stopped using gutta to form outlines as I got more confident in controlling the flow of the dyes. I find the process of silk painting very engaging as you have to be in control from the beginning to the end of the process – one wrong move and the dyes will not flow in the direction you want them to, which can completely change the outcome of the painting.

Silk painting was my first love and although I do less of it these days I will always be grateful for the lessons and skills I have learned through honing this craft.

My creative instincts started at a very young age; I used to spend most of my free time making greeting cards, drawing, sketching, decorating my room, and making posters and banners for my classroom at school. At the same time I would be amazed to see paintings done by others and would wonder how somebody could create something so artistic and wished I could do something similar.

I never really considered taking up art myself even though I had a strong appreciation of art and had a strong interest in wanting to develop my artistic side. I entered many competitions as a kid with no knowledge of how to paint; here is a newspaper clipping of me painting away on a cool winter day at the beautiful gardens of the then Hotel Banjara in Hyderabad.

I only started to take art seriously after my children started full time school. One of my friends at the time had started teaching silk painting so I signed up and this was the beginning of my journey! After developing my skills in silk I felt ready for a new challenge and moved on to canvas. Today, I see myself as a self-taught artist in mixed media. Fusing different mediums can be so much fun; it lets your imagination go wild and gives you the freedom to let the painting decide what it wants to be rather than you giving it a form. 

I have been fortunate to have lived in some inspiring cities and this has influenced my work.  Painting provides a release that helps me forget about day-to-day issues and allows me to express gratitude for life through my work.

State Gallery of Hyderabad September 2011

Taking part in a few successful charity auctions, made me think of exhibiting my art to a wider audience. I find that the deadline imposed by an exhibition helps to concentrate my efforts and provides the intensity needed to produce some of my best work. For my first exhibition, I was very fortunate to have an Indian actor, Nagarjuna, launch the exhibition. His wife, Amala, also an actress, attended alongside him and lit a candle to bless the event.

As I was based in Mumbai, the logistics of organising the exhibition in Hyderabad were more challenging but I was fortunate to have my family and friends to help me organise the event. I had to get the pieces packed and transported from Mumbai to Hyderabad. I exhibited about 25 pieces with the theme ‘Journey of a Free Soul’ featuring my paintings of Sufis, Buddha’s and other spiritual subjects.

The exhibition was a great success; it was covered well by local media where I received good reviews and this gave me the confidence to continue to develop my art skills. I realised that day that your success is very much dependent on you. When you start seeing success as something you can control, your entire outlook changes. You can determine how much success you want. I want to particularly talk about visualisation here; visualisation has been a part of my meditation process for years and I visualised how the event would take place.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the event went off very similarly to my vision. I carried the energy from that event for days to come. Thus began my journey into the world of exhibiting.

That’s a simple question, which is asked all the time. I make art for various reasons, primarily because I enjoy the process. It’s almost like I am in the moment creating something not knowing where the process will take me.  I can be lost in the oasis of colour losing all track of time.

Secondly, I have no idea why I paint, but I find it very therapeutic. Once I stop worrying about the end result I’m able to just focus on the creative process. The discomfort of not being able to move forward to the next step of the painting is nothing compared to the joy of seeing the finished product. It gives me immense satisfaction looking at a painting that’s completed and often I’ll spend hours looking at it after it’s done! 

That is not to say that it is easy to finish a painting. It’s often very difficult to put down the brush and call it a day; there is often this need to keep tweaking endlessly searching for some form of perfection. Oftentimes when I feel like this I remember the quote by Da Vinci – Art is never finished, only abandoned.

Lastly, sometimes I make a painting because I’ve got a commission or a deadline for an exhibition. It can be hard to motivate myself to the timelines of others rather than my own innate need to create. However, meeting these requirements is necessary for my growth as an artist and it motivates me to perform better. From the timing of putting the brush on the canvas to the finished layer of varnish, there are many things I can do differently but the finished product is always what it should be, nothing more, nothing less!