Bumble Bee Painting

I am a self-taught artist. Born and brought up in a city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, currently residing in NYC. I was always interested in Art since I was 2 years old. My grandfather Mr. Shakarabhai (A.K.A. Sharad) Patel was a prolific artist and I think it’s his genes dragging me towards art. He has always been a greatest inspiration and foundation of who I am. I have learned a lot just by witnessing him during his act. By profession I am a Civil Engineer and since I started to concentrate on my studies, I left art behind. But a sudden death of my grandfather put me in a situation where canvas and colors where my only escape. This organic process of mixing colors on palette and putting them on canvas make me feel closer to him, and that’s when I started creating art again. The evolution of my work has been moved from a single form/object to an entire canvas. I have moved on from portraits to abstract, in search of a freedom. Colors perform major role in my play of canvas. Nature has always been a backdrop of my story and I have always tried to portray that in one or the other form. From birds to insects to flowers to fungus, I am fascinated by nature. My artwork is continuous experimentation working with different media from alcohol and acrylic to raw ingredients like turmeric powder, beet root juice etc. I try to create a visual experience and let the viewer take charge. Artists like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Clifford Still, Pablo Picasso and Barnett Newman gave me a great confidence to believe in myself and create what I feel like creating. They taught me to keep things simple and stay connected with the roots, people find more complexity in simplicity now a days.