A lot of my artwork is inspired by nature, changing seasons, and happenings around. And the illustrations are just journaling of my experience. There’s something about being close to nature which brings peace within me. I feel more connected and comfortable around plants than people. I have always been a keen observer and admirer of the big tree and blooming flowers, it is almost like I can talk to them (How Rumi says “listen to a voice which doesn’t use words”).
I think there’s so much I have learned from nature. I hope I can be as giving as the tree and that would be the purpose of my existence. Similarly, I hope I am as good as a tree in letting dead leaves drop in order to unlearn and to be new again. I think just like a tree we all go through seasons of life some good, some not so good, and some are to teach us a lesson. In my experience of life so far I think the most important lesson that I have learned is to let go and keep moving on in order to enjoy the journey called life.
In so many ways I feel nature has helped me to heal from whatever breakdowns I have gone through in life, whenever I look at flowers so delicate and fragile yet blooming beautifully it always warms my heart and something about it tells me that it takes some courage and will to remain tender and bloom no matter what may come. A lot of my artwork showcases the uniqueness of various flowers which again is a nature’s reminder to me that we all are different and beautiful in our own ways. One can’t ask a rose to become a sunflower, a rose will remain a rose, with beautiful bright Petals and thorns whether one likes it or not. I hope just like the rose I also always remember to embrace myself and to love myself just as I am.
I know that nature has become such an inspiration for me. I have come to realize the importance and our dependence on it which is why I feel responsible for my surroundings and environment. I have started making small changes in my day to day life in order to reduce my carbon footprints and to take care of nature in whatever little way is possible for me. I know we all are so interdependent that taking care of the environment is actually taking care of yourself and when I say I’m responsibly yours it encompasses nature too...
Photo courtesy: Ajinkya Bhonde