"Philodendron leaves" Painting

I was born in Bombay, India, the youngest of seven children, to parents who fled from Burma in the 1942 exodus. For two months, my late father was not accounted for until he showed up in Calcutta, where he had sent my mother and oldest sister in the last sea plane leaving from Burma. My father was a big influence in my life. And even more of an influence has been my mother who has a keen eye for design and colors. Today she is 97 years old and my everyday inspiration. My first set of pencil colors were gifted to me by my big brother. It was the only stationary which was not handed down after being used by six siblings before me! Through observing my parents who were very neat and attentive to even the smallest details of their lives, I now see those traits instilled in my life and work as well. In the 1970's I completed a five year course in applied art, now known as graphic design. As computers were not yet available in schools in India, we had to learn to paint by hand each style of fonts found at that time. We also had to create a unique style of the complete alphabet. Having paid attention to such minute details, I tend to apply it in my art today as well. I am also a big fan of different textures, whether in art or clothing or detailing in home decor. When working with paint or any other media, I tend to vary the application in ways that accentuate the textural element. In 1984, my husband and I moved to Saint Augustine, Florida from India. We worked in a family business for a short time before I started working in a printshop where I was lucky enough to be chosen to get trained in computer graphics. I learnt to apply softwares such as photoshop and illustrator to create logos, advertisements and magazines. Also got trained in prepress preparation for offset printing. I worked in the printshop for six years, meanwhile, in 1988 my husband and I started our own business in retail which I very much enjoyed. Our store showcased metal art and cloth art from India, again with different textures and vibrant colors. However, we soon realized that we were in wrong place at a wrong time. This made us evolve our business into a small boutique store in the quaint old city of Saint Augustine, Florida, selling art forms created by variety of artists from around the world. After 27 years of retailing my husband and I decided to get out of it! And I thank him for his continued support, taking time out from running his culinary business at the time.