Journal of Creative Arts & Minds, Vol. 3, No. 1 – June-July 2017

Journal of Creative Arts & Minds Vol.3, No.1, June 2017 An Original Publication of Jumbo Arts International Red Springs, North Carolina, USA

ISBN: 978-0-9965432-4-8 / ISSN: Pending Jumbo Arts International 2017

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Journal of Creative Arts and Minds Published by

Margie Labadie, President John Antoine Labadie, Senior Editor & Graphic Designer Larry Arnold, Board Member

Electronic Links https://www.facebook.com/JournalofCreativeArtsandMinds http://www.jumboartsinternational.org jcam.jal@gmail.com

Jumbo Arts International Contact Information 217 South Edinborough St. Red Springs, North Carolina 28377-1233 01.910.734.3223 Editorial – John Antoine Labadie & Margie Labadie Design – The JCAM Team of Jumbo Arts International

The Journal of Creative Arts and Minds is a publication of Jumbo Arts International.

This electronic publication is free. The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.

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Vol.3, No. 1, June 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Jumbo Arts International Publishers Message – 6 JCAM Editor’s Message – 8 VISUAL ARTIST PROFILES Adam Priebnow – 12 Agnieszka Gzyl – 25 Aljona Shapovalova – 41 Anil Vangad – 56 Bandana Kumari – 74 Bhawani Shanker Sharma – 89 Bibek Santra – 105 Era Tak – 119 Jeffery Geller – 132 Katarzyna Szulc – 146 Oliver Wong – 158 Peggy Hinaekian – 175 Sharad Bhardwaj – 187 Vrinda Haldia – 201 CREATIVE PROJECT REVIEWS Earth Women Arts – 214 Jaipur Art Summit – 217 Ghoswami Bhatt – 219 FINAL WORD – 221 INFORMATION FOR SUBMITTERS – 222

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Publisher’s Message Growth comes in many forms and seems to be, by definition, a positive thing. Growth can mean an increase in size; a progression in value, or an evolution of some kind. All of these meanings describe the situation we find ourselves in at this publication date. The JCAM is growing quickly— and this is good!

Our pages come alive with the words of artists and writers who speak for themselves. Creative individuals are not defined by a single poem or painting. So we include more poems and short stories per author, more visual images per artist, than other publications do. Because of this, our readership experiences a range of creative works. They can see and feel the struggle for human expression in its many forms.

The number of excellent artists and writers who have submitted their work for consideration to the JCAM has increased by approximately 500% in the last year. The number of creative projects we want to highlight in our pages has increased as well. So much so, that our current bi-annual issue format is about to change, and grow.

It is our pleasure to announce that The Journal of Creative Arts and Minds will expand its 2017 publication schedule to June, September and December. Beginning in 2018, we will publish four issues per year that will come out in January, April, July, & October.

We look forward to bringing you more of what you have come to love about the JCAM!

Margie Labadie JCAM Publisher & President, Jumbo Arts International

Red Springs, North Carolina, USA jumboartsinternational@gmail.com

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Margie Labadie “Mom’s Recovery - Three Months in Philadelphia” Digital Artwork June 2017 Dedicated to my mom, Shirley Schmuckler, who turned 88 on July 6, 2017.

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A Message from the Senior Editor It is June of 2017 and we are pleased to bring our readers Vol.3, No.1 of Jumbo Arts International’s “Journal of Creative Arts and Minds.” Now in our third year, we are more thrilled than ever to deliver this more highly evolved publication.

The JCAM is an extension of our core mission to support the arts, culture and performance through mutual understanding of life ways. It is a virtual space to gather, listen, learn and share creative passions on an international level.

The JCAM content for the 2017 issues has been developed almost entirely through social media.

Our publication has grown though electronic messaging and emails. It is built through cloud storage, published online, and viewable without restrictions, for free as a web-hosted PDF. As with our previous JCAM publications, the highly creative visual artists whose works are included in the June 2017 issue of JCAM represent a number of countries, cultures, media, ages, and levels of experience. We value our relationship with each artist. As such, each artist’s submission is held as unique and is allowed to evolve relatively unhindered given the technical limitations of our current publishing format.

The JCAM receives questions about submissions process every week. Our interactions with the visual artists and/or writers expressing interest is based solely on a dialogue about each person’s work. All submissions are subjected to a standardized editorial and juried review process. It is only after the editors and/or a panel of reviewers have juried a submission that an offer for possible publication is extended to a submitter. It is only then that the editorial process is shifted into a higher gear.

The June 2017 issue has brought editorial challenges that were educational for both submitters and staff. For example, as with other issues the editors received text

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submissions forwarded to us in languages other than English. Fortunately, the electronic tools to translate from one language, or alphabet, to another seem to improve almost daily. Using a variety of translation tools and engaging in a productive electronic conversation with non-English speaking submitters has allowed for the successful publication of “translated” articles that we might not have previously attempted. Articles submitted by Russian, Spanish, Korean and German artists are examples of such collaborations.

Jumbo Arts International’s JCAM publishing project is a well organized, highly collaborative, and time consuming endeavor. Our small Jumbo-JCAM staff continuously seeks to identify and publish original creative work from local, regional, national and international sources that are known to us.

Our outreach in this regard has greatly expanded the Jumbo network since pre-planning efforts began for the JCAM in 2014. It is our pledge to continue this evolutionary process in the issues to come. We appreciate your comments and conversations on social media and through email. We promise to respond to everything sent our way.

In this issue we continue to offer reviews of creative projects with which we have had the good fortune to interact or be involved. It is hoped that readers will enjoy and be informed by this feature. As artists ourselves, members of the JCAM staff are happy to be able to share some of our successful creative connections with readers.

Our readers are our best way to network out into creative communities. Do you know of a visual artist or creative writer JCAM should hear about? We will answer all emails received.

We hope you enjoy our latest JCAM publication!

John Antoine Labadie Senior Editor & Graphic Designer Journal of Creative Arts & Minds jcam.jal@gmail.com

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John Antoine Labadie “The Ghost of William Morris #30” (Detail) / Tradigital Image Exhibited in the “6th Guanlan International Print Biennial” held at the China Printmaking Museum in Guanlan, Shenzhen, China – June 2017

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Adam Priebnow JCAM: What is your professional name?

Where were you born and does that place still influence you? Where do you live now and how does that place influence you? Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

AP: My name is Adam Priebnow. My pottery is called Dakota Crystalline. I was born in Fergus Falls, Minnesota in the USA. Fergus is where my ceramic roots started so I still have strong influential ties there with my family and first professor Lori Charest. I currently live in Moorhead, MN and this continues to have a positive impact on my work today.

My family is my biggest support for pottery and everything else I do in life. I have tremendous support from Kelli Sinner who was my professor in Ceramics at MSUM (Minnesota State University Moorhead). My friends support my work by pushing me to become better.

I have had the privilege of working with a lot of hard working, talented artists throughout the years. I believe if I did not have each one of them by my side I would not be able to do the things with clay I can today.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art? Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do? Why do you make art now? How has your work changed or developed over time? What are you trying to communicate with your art?

AP: I started making art while pursuing a degree in Psychology in 2008 at Minnesota State College in Fergus Falls. It was shortly after this that I realized ceramics was a passion for me. I continue to make art today because when I am not creating, I feel like a part of me is missing.

My work has changed tremendously over time. When I think about my first 6 inch cylinder assignment and how I used close to 6 pounds of clay to achieve it and to what I can do with 6 pounds of clay today, it amazes me. There is a saying it takes about 10,000 hours to become a professional with something and I tried to get those 10,000 in

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as fast as possible. Today, it’s not about the time that I put into the work, it is about using the time I have wisely.

I am trying to achieve a record of progression in my work that shows that I have done the best I could. Through that I think art can be used as a means to show others to accept themselves as well as learning to push their limits appropriately.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making? What element(s) of art making do you enjoy the most and why? What is your most important artist tool(s) and why? How do you know when a work is finished? What are the art making tools you use now? What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

AP: My rituals for art consist of the process of making clay to my desired consistency, throwing pieces, trimming, bisque firing, mixing glazes, glazing pieces, firing and finishing the bottoms; only to be satisfied for a few seconds with the results and then looking for ways to improve the next kiln. My favorite part of the process is the process I am working on at any given moment. If I had to choose one it would be throwing though.

Because there is so much movement and feeling associated with the process. For me a piece is never really finished because they can always be improved. I try to use my work as a record towards progression.

The last piece I create will be a perfect one because to me that will be the finished product and hopefully a final to many years of making beautiful work. I love the pursuit of crystalline glazes because it challenges me in all areas of my work. Sure the glazes themselves are wonderful but without a beautiful canvas they are nothing.

JCAM: What's the first artwork you ever sold? Do you make a living from your art?

What strategies will you share with other artists on how to become successful professionally?

AP: The first piece I ever sold was at Mstate when the curator for the school bought one of my pieces from my Introduction to Ceramics class. I do not do art as a living but I would like to believe I am becoming a professional at it.

The best advice I have got in regards into becoming successful professionally was from a professor at Minnesota State University Moorhead who said that there is no excuse not to be making work regularly.

If you want to be successful you have to put in the time. He gave examples of how he would work evenings when his family went to bed. I try to model my studio time after this advice. 


JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life? What interesting

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project are you working on at the moment?

AP: My goals for the future are to continue to expand my Pottery Dakota Crystalline and become the best artist I can be. The project I am currently working on is further development of crystalline glazes.

JCAM: What or who inspires you? Do you have a favorite — or influential — living artist? What work of art do you wish you owned and why?

AP: The people who have inspired me the most are my professors in the past, Lori Charest and Kelli Sinner. There have been countless others that I have worked with that have inspired me. My favorite artist is Tom Coleman. I'd love to have any piece of his. I have always been interested in his original crystalline matte pieces. Other than that there are countless crystalline artists whose work I love.

JCAM: Where do you find ideas for your creative work? What does “being creative” mean to you? What is the best advice you ever had about how to be more creative?

AP: I am constantly aware of my environment. When I see something that excites me I try to find a way to incorporate this into my pots.

Being creative to me means being open-minded and willing to learn from everyone. If I am willing to listen, I can grow. This open-mindedness translates into willingness to put things into action. I love taking the action of creating because I am a hands on learner.

Photo credit for all images: Vanessa J Creative

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Adam Priebnow “Blue On Green Vase” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Blue On Tan Vase” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Detail of Crystal” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Silver On Yellow Vase” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Silver On Green And Tan Vase” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Silver On Brown Vase” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “Platter” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “JadeVase 3 / Ceramic with crystalline glaze”

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Adam Priebnow “JadeVase 2” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Adam Priebnow “JadeVase 1” / Ceramic with crystalline glaze

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Agnieszka Gzyl JCAM: Where were you born and does that place still influence you? Could you talk a little about experiences that have influences the way you currently relate yourself to your artworks?

AG: My name is Agnieszka Gzyl. I was born in 1972 in Warsaw, Poland. I am a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Władysław Strzemiński in Łódź Poland, of Interdisciplinary Faculty of Interior Architecture and Visual Arts.

Now, I am a candidate to Ph.D. at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź – Faculty of Interior Architecture and Fine Arts. I am also designing the daily use objects so the range of my interest seems to be wide, however always linked to the art. What is most important and most valuable to me in every field of my activity is process of creation as its own.

At the beginning of my life, my individual memory was linked to the place I was born and this, of course strongly influenced my art. Living in a difficult country and personal history also shaped my personality, emotionality, way of thinking as well as seeing the world and other people.

Earlier in my life, I was so introverted in public display of emotion and feelings that my paintings were the only means of communicating to the world about my inside. For me painting was also the strong tool to release emotions I could not communicate verbally and also the way to discover myself. Those days, apart from focusing on my own problems I was also absorbed in the subject of the Earth and humanity collapsing, being strongly touched with the subject of mindless and excessive exploitation of our planet.

In my artworks I was building unknown worlds set on distant planets, frozen, out of life with dying suns, or explosions of cold stars. I was escaping for these worlds from myself reaching kind of safe places exceptionally occupied by me.

I think the collective, self and individual memories are equal. Individual ones allows the transmission of many personal experiences from which both the artist and the viewer can gain a lot. The collective memory helps in maintaining the group relationship. The artist, referring to the many mass phenomenon as history, racial problems, ecology, science or even love or nature can develop certain attitudes and if they do not shape

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the group perception (because it may be too lofty) is at least touch the hearts and emotions of the viewers, prompting some reflections.

Of course, the artist is also saddled with the responsibility for his own emotions communicated through the art. She must emphatically enter a message being aware of the fact that appeals to many people also that choosing specific artistic language she will cause specific viewers reactions.

JCAM: Would you like to tell us something about your background? When and how did you start making art?

AG: My history seems to be quite interesting. Over 10 years ago I decided to quit the real estate market. The decision was definitely maturing in me over time. My painting passion and love for architecture didn't develop over night, but for many years run parallel to my professional career.

Then came the moment when I decided that I had achieved everything I wanted to in the commercial real estate. And I was still young enough to follow my heart. The real estate market had been my true passion for 17 years. I lived out my American Dream, climbing the ladder from a lowly board assistant, through each consecutive rung, up to a director of rental and asset management departments.

So there was no pivotal moment that convinced me to quit my job. The new chapter of my life came quite naturally, though I must admit that preparing for it professionally took real effort on my part. I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ĺ ĂłdĹş and now I am about reaching the doctorate at my alma mater.

JCAM: Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do?

AG: Many, many years ago I was driving a car and suddenly I have realized of the landscape beauty I can see through the car window. This moment was a breaking one when I felt the desire to paint these amazing views first time. But I did nothing, being scared I am not able to paint at all.

Months were passing and desire to paint grew in me day by day stronger but unfortunately with a fear. One day I decided to go for the painting courses for the candidates to the academy of fine arts just to start to paint and to have an emotional assistance of the others in breaking my fears. Starting these courses I quickly realized that painting it has always been my path.

For the unusual technique I have chosen. At each opening of my arts exhibition I am asked always the same question: When did the idea to painting with construction silicone appeared. Why are you using such unconventional material? For some my answer is disappointing some gives food for thought. Unfortunately, I do not know

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where, when and of what reason I have got such an idea. I do not remember this moment when construction silicon seemed to me an interesting material to paint with.

I am the architect, I realize many interior design projects therefore, naturally I should observe how workers use the silicone, for finishing the bathroom, and notice that it would be a good medium to paint, but it was not like that at all. It annoys me either, that I cannot grasp this moment at all. Maybe it was the miracle? (laugh).

What I do remember very well is that for a long time I have been trying to “tame” the silicon which has been very fickle and not so cooperative. I do remember how many hours, days, weeks and months it took me to explore different types of silicones, their characteristic. How many canvases I have destroyed before I have found the right methods and tools (sometime very bizarre) to layer it and to get the right texture.

However, still the most important tool I am using to paint is my hands and fingers.

Working with silicon, I had also to solve the problem of the poisonous fumes that is why in the studio I use special masks.

JCAM: What are you trying to communicate with your art?

AG: In addition to being the painter, I am also the architect therefore architecture, being an important part of my life had and still has a big influence to my art. Architecture you may freely touch with hand, it is rich with textures and here I can see a strong relation between artistic emotions and intellectual perception in my artworks, the architectural way of thinking in some paintings with opportunity to touch them and examine the artworks fractures with hands. Examples of such an approach of mine to the art and architecture as one you can find in the said cycle “Behind The Wall”.

Speaking in general about perception of my art and the message to the viewers I have, it is not only viewing it. The same importance as a vision has to me the touch. The work I am doing crosses therefore technology and science as i.e neurology or psychology.

The outside world shapes children’s development through experiences that they have, which includes using as a first the senses of sight and touch. Drawing a child’s attention to these senses increases understanding and communication about the world around us and between each other.

This kind of atavistic way of experiencing the world is staying in us forever therefore to go back to the roots my art is sensory and all artworks touchable. This is the way I am able to communicate better and deeper with the viewers, and also to pass onto them emotions arisen during artworks creation. In this different and more involved way therefore my artworks are becoming not only to be seen but almost to be felt, engaging emotions, intellect and more senses.

It is also uniquely accessible to visually handicapped people, enabling them to see more by specific, almost 3D and very soft textures, as well as to physically disabled or autistic people encouraging them to undertake some action by touching the artworks. Of course

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the children are also enjoying the art, having opportunity to interact naturally with the paintings in an interesting way at early age.

To each painting exhibition I also add my poetry to accompany the show letting viewers feel the variety of the artist’s emotions linked to the paintings.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making?

AG: Most of my projects painting, architectural and designer projects are formed under the influence of emotions, but only in the my head, rarely on the paper. This may seem strange but for me the best creative time is in bed and at the moment before falling asleep. This is when ideas and images appear in my head that I remember and put later on canvas, paper or turn into the real object.

However because I paint intuitively, very often such projects are modified by feelings and emotions that arise during painting process therefore what I saw last night might not be the same what I put on canvas. Intuition then, is kind of second to me. I never know which direction “she” will lead my hand. That is amazing feeling.

JCAM: What is your most important artist tool(s) and why?

AG: I am a great lover of Zdzisław Beksiński’s art, especially his very disturbing images, showing a surrealistic, post-apocalyptic environment with very detailed scenes of death, decay, landscapes filled with skeletons, deformed figures and deserts. I have been always treating them as a serious global warning for the civilization which is step by step destroying itself. And here I can say that my way of thinking is more global and linked more to the human race than to particular race or ethnic identity.

We, as an artists, exhibiting our artworks in different countries, have an opportunity to speak to masses of different origin and identities therefore, when I have the chance, I prefer to carry more global messages in my art.

JCAM: What is the first artwork you ever sold?

AG: I do not remember the first artwork sold but I can remember the weirdest sale I had some 2 or 3 years ago at the opening party of my solo exhibition.

An older, distinguished gentleman, not being invited to the opening jumped to the gallery from the street and asked me how much does cost one of my exhibited paintings. I answered him obviously. He just took mentioned amount out of his wallet, paid, took the painting and has gone. All lasted only few minutes so I stood with the money in my hand shocked.

JCAM: What strategies would you share with other artists on how to become successful professionally?

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AG: It is good and bad information at the same time that today’s artist to develop career has not only to create the art but needs also to be kind of businessman providing self marketing, PR, new business development departments, has also to have some basic legal and accountancy knowledge. This is difficult circumstances for many artists.

Yes, the world is changing rapidly, the rules of art market as well, this is fact therefore it is very important to follow these changes and to adopt to them fast.

What is not changing and will never change is when you are real with your art, stubborn, patient, consistent, not hiding from people, open to contacts with them, you are positive person with some art message, the world would see it for sure one day.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life? What interesting project are you working on at the moment?

AG: As for the future projects. First of all, this year, I want to close on a doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź - Interior Design and Fine Arts faculty. In my Ph.D. studies touch very important subject of “healing architecture” designing cardio surgery unit for the oncology hospital in Łódź. In Poland, hospital patients are suffering in badly designed interiors, mainly due to lack of architects’ knowledge about how strong influence has interior architecture (light, acoustic, colors, materials, sound and even art) to the recovery process. There is no literature on this subject or it is very weak therefore I also plan to write a book in the future.

Exhibition of my painting are held almost every two months. This year, the most interesting event I plan in July when I am going to paint with the construction silicone live on a giant stage for around 1000 people. For sure It will be very exciting.

This May I exhibited in Łódź. For this exhibition my goal was to come with the retrospective show of my artworks with the participation of my friends who are artists (painters, sculptors, photographers and musicians) and their creations created especially for me. The exhibition was really an amazing show, accompanied by a concert with music composed especially for me.

This way I have summarized somehow my artistic activity in Poland because end of the year I am planning to relocate to the United States. I am already under care of two American Art Agents assisting me to develop on the US art market.

This May, 5 of my SILICONE artworks were hanged in the company of Sir Anthony Hopkins' paintings at the Jeff Mitchum Gallery in La Jolla. I am very happy about that and I strongly hope I will be able to win hearts and minds of the American viewers.

In the United States, The same as in Poland, I also intend to continue interior design activity.

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These are my plans but…… I'm not a believer but I like this idea: "tell God about your plans, you will make him only laugh" (laugh). Anyway, I strongly hope that all goes according to the schedule in the nearest future.

JCAM: What or who inspires you?

AG: This is very interesting question even my answer will be short.

As I mentioned before, most of my paintings are formed only under the influence of emotions. I am painting what I currently feel therefore the only inspiration I have is my emotions, not the objects, views, people, animals or anything I can see, without prior sketches or devising work. Sometimes after a few days of looking at my artwork already I can see its importance and meaning is really has.

Even though I started to paint seeing great landscapes outside the window, I have never put them on canvas.

JCAM: Do you have a favorite – or influential – living artist? What work of art do you wish you owned and why?

AG: Unfortunately, this artist have passed away being violently murdered in 2005 but for me is the only one influencing my way of thinking and he is still alive in me. I am still speaking about Zdzisław Beksiński. What is interesting, he once said: “What matters is what appears in your soul, not what your eyes see and what you can name.”

Zdzisław Beksiński 1984

I think that what I do is pure identification with my own inside. This what he said was not too much influential because I have found this secret a few months ago but definitely describes what I am doing. Strangely, it was said by my art guru.

For the work of art I would wish to own. Guess, who’s artwork could it be? (laugh)

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Of course that I would dream to own one of Beksiński artworks, especially this one. I am showing the painting because he has never been giving title to his artworks.

Why this one? Because “What matters is what appears in your soul, not what your eyes see and what you can name” (laugh).

For me this painting through its dual vision of eroticism and decomposition of the body more or less deliberately gives the most concise definition of life that birth is the beginning of the dying process and starts the never-ending discussion about sense of life.

JCAM: What does “being creative” mean to you?

AG: For a very long time in the history of human thought, creativity was thought of as just that: mysticism, magic, incomprehensible.

Many people even today still believe that creativity is granted through some divine power but scientists say that creativity comes because of specific connections of neural pathways.

For me, being creative seems to be combination of all above, providing one receives a legendary creative muse that would visit those who are open to the experience.

The human mind is said to have more memory locations than the number of particles in the universe. Therefore we are equipped with a unique and powerful equipment to experience everything we want with all five senses that we have. Adding these to the talent that you have and all mystic powers you have been given from the heavens, you can do a lot of incredible things! (laugh).

For more please visit: www.agnieszkagzyl.com https://www.facebook.com/AgaGzyl https://www.facebook.com/SiliconeArtworksByAgnieszkaGzyl/ e-mail: contact@agnieszkagzyl.com

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Linen”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Linen”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone And Acrylic Paint On Canvas”

Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Canvas”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Linen” (Detail)

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Linen”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Canvas” (Detail)

Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Canvas”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Canvas”

Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Canvas”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone On Linen”

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Agnieszka Gzyl “Silicone & Acrylic On Canvas”

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Aljona Shapovalova JCAM: What is your professional name? Where were you born and does that place still influence you?

Where do you live now and how does that place influence you? Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

AS: I changed my name a little and now I sign my work as Aljona Shapovalova I was born and still live in Vladikavkaz city in the Caucasus region. It is the southern part of Russia.

At the beginning of my creative path, especially during the training in art, local artistic trends influenced me.

Now, I think, it does not matter, where I live. I try to be out of any particular territory. I am a “Cosmopolitan” artist, if I may say so.

But if we talk not about the artistic currents and schools, but about the situation, then, of course, everything that is happening around in some way affects me as a person and this involuntarily affects my art. My region, the Caucasus, has experienced many upheavals, problems and terrorist attacks.

Now the situation has improved, but the past does not disappear so simply. For a long time I worked with only a few colors: black, white and blood red, perhaps it was an intuitive choice, a kind of reflection on what was happening around.

My family and close friends (I have very few close friends) support me. Without the support of family it would be difficult to pursue pure art. It allows me not to think about the many everyday problems.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art? Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do? Why do you make art now? How has your work changed or developed over time? What are you

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trying to communicate with your art? Of the artworks published in this article, is there one of you are which most proud? If so, why?

AS: I painted since childhood and I always remember myself with a color pencil in my hands, drawing something. I decided to go to an art school, so, it was my own choice and parents just supported it.

For so long I studied art, almost 15 years. Over time this process became very natural for me. But then I had a break for 2 years, when I almost did not create art. Our system of art education gives artistic skills, but finishing an academic university you do not understand what to do the: “How to be an artist?”

The year 2009 was a turning point in my art, I began to change my artistic style and look for something new, coming to more graphic, hard style in painting and in building up my compositions.

I hope that my art is still developing. Stopping in development in art is an inexcusable stagnation.

The question of what I am trying to communicate, to say what my art is about is very difficult for me. I'm quite introverted and, I think, I'm talking about myself in all my works.

Existentially is inherent in my work. External influences (news, events around, politics, etc.) are not directly reflected in my art. I can give a comparison with a well at the bottom of which I am living. And from time to time something can get into, get some news, things from “the outside” can get down to where I am.

Some art works begin a new period in my art, but I'm not that proud of them more than others. Even so I consider these new steps important. That is why, a new series, a new project begins with them. I feel renewed with each new step, each new turn in my work.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making? What element(s) of art making do you enjoy the most and why? What is your most important artist tool(s) and why? How do you know when a work is finished? What are the art making tools you use now? What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

AS: I do not have any special rituals. As I said, the creation of art for me is a natural process, just my job and my life. All of this is not divided. I try to work every day and not wait for some “mythical inspiration” which may never come anyway.

I admit, the creation process is fascinating for me. I love all this "artistic cuisine", as paint behaves on the canvas and I like to manage chaos at this moment, at the time of creation.

The most important tool for the artist is her brain and hands. It's great if they work equally well together. Some days that even happens for me.

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It is very important to stop in time and finish work at the right time. Therefore, in the final stages of work on a piece, I try to work slowly, to think more than paint, so as to feel, to see and not to miss this moment.

Now I work mainly in painting, graphics, collage medium and less – with installation. I have long felt the need to devote more time to installation, objects and work in volume.

JCAM: What's the first artwork you ever sold? Do you make a living from your art?

AS: The first works were sold in my time as a student. I do not remember what the first was. At this point, yes, I am a freelance artist and I am living from my art.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life? What interesting project are you working on at the moment?

AS: I'm so arranged that I do not think far into the future. I working in parallel on several themes, ideas, and when I get an interesting offer for exhibition I prepare project for a specific area, a specific place. For example, I recently returned from India where I did a project on the spot in an art residence. I felt very energized by that.

JCAM: What or who inspires you? Do you have a favorite – or influential – living artist?

What work of art do you wish you owned and why? When addressing a particular work to be published in this interview: Can you explain what inspired this particular piece or idea?

AS: I do not want to single out one or more artists as most loved or influencing me a lot.

I think now, when information is very accessible due to the Internet and freedom of movement, the artist is in a constant flow of art images, trends and ideas. The artist experiences influence even if she does not want it, unless she closes herself in the studio as a hermit, disconnecting the Internet and limiting any contacts.

I never thought about - what kind of art work I want to have, or anything I would like to collect. I have several pictures by artists-friends, but seriously I did not think about collecting art.

Basically I work with series of art works, where each work is part of the project, part of one general concept. Here I show works from several series. For example, inspiration, or rather an idea for series ”Caves of technoneolithic” was the interest to modern cave culture of “diggers” (possibly in other countries another term) – “researchers of underground communications”.

JCAM: Where do you find ideas for your creative work? What does “being creative” mean to you? What is the best advice you ever had about how to be more creative?

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AS: My art is not narrative, I do not tell specific stories. It is rather about sensations, reflection. Sometimes my paintings are compared to Tarkovsky's films. All ideas come from my own existential experience.

I do not know how it is to be creative. In the Russian language the word "creativity" has two meanings, to engage in arts or to do something not standard, not in the same way as others do. I do not think about creativity when I do my art. I'm just working, setting myself tasks, looking for ways to solve them, often I rely on creative intuition.

I do not like to give advice on art, because if a person decides to do art she must find her own way; other people's advice does not work here. I do not have ready-made recipes. Art is a process that cannot be stopped, or not taken seriously, if you want to consider yourself an artist.

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Aljona Shapovalova “Stones, Only Stones” / Acrylic On Canvas

Aljona Shapovalova The artist in her studio.

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Aljona Shapovalova “Thermal Water Of Vichy I” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Untitled” / Acrylic On Canvas

Aljona Shapovalova “A Man” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Look For Signs” / Acrylic On Canvas

Aljona Shapovalova “The Sky Overhead” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Banana Leaves” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Space of Silence - Part II” / Acrylic On Plywood

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Aljona Shapovalova “Hold On” / Acrylic and Mixed Media On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Sight Inside” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Turquoise Structures” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Test Of Strength” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Aljona Shapovalova “Illogical Connections” / Acrylic On Canvas

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Anil Chaitya Vangad

JCAM: What is your professional name? 
 ACV: I am named Anil Chaitya Vangad by my parents and that is the name I go by, both as a Warli artist and in my community.

JCAM: What do you mean by Warli? Where do you live and how does that place influence you in your work?

ACV: There are a lot of small tribal districts in Maharashtra and one such is Warli. The traditional artwork which is an age old tradition is called Warli painting because it represents the community and heritage from which I come.

My birth place is in Ganjhar village, now in Palghar district, in the state of Maharashtra, India. My family has been living and working here for the last 3-4 generations. 


My village is really very beautiful. What you see in the Warli art, is our village, our lives

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painted with earth and rice. Though the art is traditional and passed down for many generations, it still shows truly how we live today, our lives documented in the art.

Through the paintings you can tell how our forefathers lived and how we spend our time working, eating and the changes we are experiencing in my society today. I observe and study interesting subjects which I see around me and come up with new themes for my paintings.

JCAM: I understand this is a traditional art - when and how did you start making art?

ACV: Traditionally, the married women (Shuhagan) of the village paint symbolic religious images on the walls of their homes, which are covered with cow dung or mud using white rice paste, only on special occasions such as weddings and births, and for festivals. Both my mother and grandmother are designated “shuhagan” painters who are invited by the villagers to paint traditional images like “Shaadi ka chuk” (marriage blessing drawings) on the walls of the homes to offer blessings to the newlywed couple for their prosperity and well being.

The belief being that the drawings invoke the blessings of the forefathers and spiritual gods during these occasions. When I was young, 4th – 5th grade, I would go with my mother to attend many marriages to help her with these wall murals. I remember, she could not articulate what she wanted to show in her paintings but her imagination and creativity was evident in her work. Her observation, and rendering of the drawings all different from each other, influenced me to think like her. Slowly I started joining her by either filling in the color or making small additions to her ephemeral murals.

When I was in the 5th grade I participated in an art competition in school where I could paint whatever I wanted. I choose to paint my Warli tradition, a ceremonial theme honoring the “vaag devatta” (tiger god), highlighting what happens during this festival.

You see, my dad would often take me to the jungles where they would perform this celebration which accompanied dancing, singing and various rituals. To the outside world it is a fascinating subject with strong visual elements which won me a prize for the painting. Our village head himself awarded me the prize.That was the first time I realized that I was creating art.

JCAM: Can you describe the first time you realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do?

ACV: I come from a very humble background. I have studied only till the 9th grade in a local government school in my village. The standard of education is very different than what you would learn in a big city. In order to earn a living and support my family I started taking up odd jobs. I also started helping my mother paint more frequently, now, going to other villages for 5 days. Slowly many realized that I too could paint the traditional imagery for the special occasion and invited me. Over time I got better in handling the medium and experimenting with many themes and subjects both on paper and painting directly on the walls.

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When I was about 16, I was asked to paint a mural for a corporation, Infosys, in Bangalore, which was outside my village. That was the first time I got paid handsomely for something that I was getting good at and loved doing. I stayed in Bangalore for 10 days finishing the work.

That was my first professional experience outside my village. The mural got plenty of media coverage and publicity in the news and some magazines. I got noticed by an NGO who later invited me to exhibit frequently for their fairs and exhibitions. It was my first time talking directly to people explaining my work and telling them about our tribal history and visual narratives. It made me feel proud of my culture and I decided then that I would continue painting and educating people about my village.

JCAM: How has your work changed or developed over time? And what are you trying to communicate with your art?

ACV: Till today this traditional art is done on the walls. And I still paint for my neighbors and village on many occasions. Now however the new generation has also started painting on canvas and cotton cloth depicting our tradition and philosophy. I do recognize the fact that with the world, my village too is experiencing many social, economic and industrial changes that my forefathers could not have imagined. I love to show these changes in my paintings and start a conversation about many different topics that are sometimes not spoken aloud or not discussed enough.

You see my painting style has not changed but with science evolving I show the influence of that in my life. Like, for instance, global warming. I have painted on that subject so that I can communicate my thoughts through my work on what we can do to lessen our carbon footprint and also educate others about it. Dowry and women's' rights is another subject that I focus on. I want to tell people that though we have certain customs and rituals that are age old like dowry, we have to evaluate it and see how it’s affecting lives. In the earlier days though dowry existed, people lived simple lives and were happy with whatever dowry they got. There were no demands but a respect for this custom.

But now, it has completely changed. Families are torn apart to pay for the dowry. The women are treated badly and often times beaten to get more money from her family. My message is: Live in Peace. Understand the history and recognize why this custom started. Even today we can maintain the same custom if done with respect and understanding and practiced for the right reasons. With patience and dialogue we can solve many such issues and overcome unnecessary tension in the society.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making?

ACV: Warli art is a rudimentary wall painting using basic graphic shapes: a circle, a triangle and a square. The circle and triangle come from observation of nature, the

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circle representing the sun and the moon, the triangle from mountains and pointed trees and the square from our sacred enclosure or a piece of land.

Human and animal bodies are represented by two triangles joined at the tip; the upper triangle depicts the trunk and the lower triangle the pelvis. Their precarious equilibrium symbolizes the balance of the universe, and of the couple, our gods and human, nature and human.

We tribal people depict in our paintings our relationship with nature: the jungle and the mountains, from birth to death. The sun, moon, cloud all are gods, including rain and stone. We worship all of them. Our main education or our wealth is in understanding our relationship with nature.

Since childhood we see that when the rains come, what we have to do and how the rain gods bless us. How and what to grow in the monsoons or any other season. We do not learn all this in any school or special lectures in college. We learn more from mother nature. Every season we learn what has to be done, with nature as our teacher. We live in nature far from the city and one day we will go back to this nature when we die. Our relationship with her is a real close one.

JCAM: What are the tools and materials you use?

ACV: There is nothing special about the material or tools we use. They are all locally sourced and found around the village. Even though I paint on cotton cloth now, I still use and prefer the traditional materials like cow dung, red mud (gerue) and rice paste to paint. I started using white water based color instead of the rice paste as the bugs were eating them. That’s it! Warli paintings are done with simple supplies using a stylus instead of a brush that I myself fashion with bamboo. The cow dung and red mud are all here in my farm.

JCAM: What is your most interesting subject that you like to paint?

ACV: I do not have any special subject to paint. I like painting my traditional themes, like our many dances and festivals. For example, I paint the Tarpa Dance, and paintings of happiness and prosperity in the presence of our spiritual gods and goddess.

The Tarpa is a trumpet like instrument usually played at the beginning of the Monsoon to celebrate the start of the sowing season, surrounded by dancing men and women in a circle. At all occasions – birth, marriage, and death we draw circles, the symbol of Mother Goddess. Death is not the end for us; rather it is a new beginning. Which is why circles best represent the art of Warli, which has neither an end nor a beginning - an eternal circle.

JCAM: How did you become a professional in your art form?

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ACV: My village had frequent visitors coming from DCH (Development Commissioner Handicraft), Craft Museum in Delhi, and Craft Council of India, to see and document our lives and traditions. Some were just tourists while others were researchers from other countries. One individual was also making a documentary and writing a book on the Warli tribal community. Some foreigners when visiting my village would notice my art and inquired to buy it. I started selling my paintings.

This way I started getting recognition slowly for my paintings right here from my village.

My work is now in USA, France, Japan and with many private collectors, museums and galleries in India. I have had shows and exhibitions in the United States including participating at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market with the help and support of Ms. Manvee Vaid who runs an online gallery Deccan Footprints. I also have some galleries who contact me directly for a project and ask for paintings based on certain subject matter.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life?

ACV: I do not know if I have a goal however, I do have a dream. Something that I really want to accomplish and honestly speaking have been working towards fulfilling the dream for some time now. I usually travel to the city and other places, like museums and galleries to give demonstrations and show them through my art what my culture is all about. Audiences find the paintings and the stories really interesting and captivating and are always interested in knowing more and some want to come to my village, my home, to see and learn for themselves.

Some come and stay with me and my wife cooks for them. They want to see how we live, eat and understand our customs and rituals. They really like the first hand experience. My dream is to make a tribal hut, like a museum here in my village where I can display the paintings and our life style. You see, our painting’s subject matter changes according to the season and also the festivals have different themes that I paint on the walls. I want to make a small museum under my name. We use different instruments, like tarpa, which I want to showcase for people to see and learn.

JCAM: Do you have to buy land?

ACV: Yes, I will have to buy some land for this. Though I have land, it is not appropriate for this kind of project. I will have to ask some other villager for the land and buy it. I will also make some additional rooms attached to this museum for people to live and experience it.

JCAM: What and who inspires you? Is there a living artist who influences you?

ACV: My first guru in my painting is my mother but now she is old and my wife helps me in filling the motifs and design. Jivya Soma Mashe, one of the foremost artists to bring Warli art on paper, is the person that I respect and admire. He lives in my village. I go to him if I need some help. The way he simplifies the subject in his work is worth learning and observing. He has inspired me but his subjects are always too traditional. I want to

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do something different. I look at his work and see the different subjects he paints, these are simple and traditional, but his imagination is simply great. I want to make works that show my imagination and incorporate the world of today.

JCAM: What is the best advice you can give to the next generation of Warli artists?

ACV: I want to request all new budding artist of this art style to first take time and make an effort just like me and my predecessors, to understand, learn and then paint our visual narratives and folktales. I feel that new artists are producing a mixed kind of art moving towards something, a modern art, which does not represent the essence of Warli traditions or philosophy.

Prints are coming out on saris, scarves, etc. However remember it is our heritage and culture. Respect it and keep it sacred not only for ourselves but for others to respect. It is our responsibility. This should not be diluted. The essence should remain the same. I have a vision and zeal to take the Warli art forward by incorporating the good of the modern world as well as retaining our traditions.

Anil Chaitya Vangad and his family in the studio.

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Anil Chaitya Vangad The artist (On Right) with one of his Warli paintings.

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Paintings / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Paintings / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Anil Chaitya Vangad Warli Painting / Pigments on fabric

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Bandana Kumari JCAM: What is your professional name?

BK: My name is Bandana Kumari, I was born in Khagaul, Patna, Bihar, India. This is also the birth place of the famous mathematician Aryabhata who invented “0”.

How does it influence me? This place is very good. This is also a very good question because whenever I think about my value for this place it motivates me and reminds me of the changes I wanted as a young girl. This is the starting place from where I decided to move out into the world. Moreover, I was the first girl of my village who wanted to become an artist.

So my village influenced me a lot. One of the important things which I would like to share with you is that the famous installation artist Subodh Gupta is from my village. So this also motivated me to seek out ways to move into the creative arts as a profession.

Right now I am living in Bhopal capital of Madhya Pradesh. I live here because Bhopal is the city of lakes and temples, and a place where artists thrive. That is why I am calling it the “temple of artists” because here in Bhopal there is Bharat Bhavan where so many eminent and prominent personalities of art and culture come on a regular basis. This is why I like this place lot and it influences me to do the best work I can do.

I have a family in Bhopal. I live with my husband Dharmendra Kumar. I believe that today, whatever I am is because of my hubby. He has done everything for me. He is not only my husband but a friend and mother, father, sister, brother. One interesting thing is that he is also an artist and so it makes him a perfect husband for me. Whenever I need help in painting he helps me and suggests me to do my best and also motivates me a lot too.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art?

BK: My journey as an artist was not as simple as people think. Because I have faced so many hurdles in my journey and you can say I am an accidental artist.

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I would like to share a story with you. After my 12th, I took admission in college for simple art, and after 2 years, one day I was sitting with my friend who was doing graduation from Patna art college. I asked her, “How do you learn art there, and how can one can get into that college?” She arrogantly replied to me that I could not afford that college and not to bother trying.

Those words were challenging for me and I took it as a challenge. That day I told my father that I wanted to go to Patna art college. My father, surprisingly, said, “OK!” We then went to the college for a visit. The admission forms were difficult but I finally got into that college. I studied and worked hard there. In the college I learned so many things and came to know that this was my real passion.That time my dreams came true.

So it is in this way that I have become an artist.

Why do I make art? This too is a very good question. I make art because I am hungry to make it. I do not make art for earning money, but it gives me energy. To live without art I am nothing, but with the art I am everything. I started making Madhubani painting from college days; then I tried to make Madhubani in my style. Madhubani painting is famous in Bihar. After some time I modified this Madhubani in my style.

In those first days it was very difficult for a girl to work as an artist. Some days it seemed that it would not be possible at all. But my father always used to say, go ahead “my lioness and live your dream”. In those words, strong was the word I always hear from my father, so I have made lioness face in my painting. From my art work I want to give the message that women can do anything and they can live their dream if their family supports them.

JCAM: What can you tell us about your current artistic process?

BK: I do not follow any particular creative patterns, rituals and routines. I live for the art work and painting is my life. I like to see myself in my paintings and in some works make my own portrait. I always think about my work and my painting, how well I could do new things in the art I can create. I enjoy adding in ornamental designs, animal forms, at the end of the painting, I enjoy decorating the jewelry I place into my paintings too.

When is my work complete? When my mind and heart says that the work is done. So it is then that I finish that work.

I have other creative influences. I have spent some time in theater also so I like to perform art, and after doing acting I like to paint that acting. In my painting I used to do this often. Here’s what I would do: What I do first is to get dressed like a character that will be in my art work. Then I have photo shoot of that. Ad then I make a painting of that character. So in this way I express my feelings across the whole development of my art work.

JCAM: How do you feel about working as an artist? Do you make a living from your art?

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BK: My first work which was sold was titled, “One cup tea”. Now I make living from painting. It has been an interesting journey.

JCAM: What do you think about your future as an artist?

BK: Up until now I am doing well. And with the grace of god and working as a freelancer artist, I want to become great artist and I want to be known by my work. Yet even though I cannot predict about life, I believe that there is something good is written in my fate. Till now, god has come along with me and in future I also want the same thing from god. Right now I am working on Shree Krishna series.

JCAM: What can you share about your inspiration(s) for making art?

BK: I get inspiration from women. If I see a woman auto driver I feel proud and get inspiration. I feel proud seeing women in different fields where they are doing a great job and it motivates me.

I also get inspiration from other artists. There is one famous artist, A. Rakmachandran. I love his work. Apart from this, one of my teachers who is famous artist of Bhopal, Yusuf Sir who inspired me a lot, and taught me a lot about the work and so many things.

If some time in the future I could own any artwork of my choice, I will buy work of A. Rakmachandran's work because I love his paintings.

Other times inspirations just come into my mind. One work named “Rangrasiya” came when I was in my house and thinking about my work. Just in a moment I decided to make a painting about Lord Krishna set as if Krishna would come again today. He would be in a newer style than we are used to seeing him, and he would perhaps come on a motorcycle or bike. So in this way the idea came in my mind and then became a painting.

JCAM: What are your views on creativity?

BK: Where do I find ideas? When I go out of my room and see women are working in many fields and fighting for their rights in all the fields, I get inspiration from that.

Being creative means that I can express my feelings through my painting. In this way I can show how a woman can change the way of life and change all things in the world.

As an artist I can use my work to show what I mean.

I too am creative, and when I make a painting I feel myself in that painting. In this way I do not make a painting, I live in the work.

Like other artists I sometimes wonder how to be more creative. I believe creativity is a work of silence. By this I mean that if to increase the creative self we should sometimes go alone to work, and we should think about the work which we want to do, and we speak with our work. It will tell you everything.

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Bandana Kumari “Roop Chaudas” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Beauty Pagaent 2” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Photo Session - II” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Photo Session - II” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Couple” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Wighakarni” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Rangrashiya” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Rangrashiya” (Detail) / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Bird Queen” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Bird King” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Beauty and Mirror” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bandana Kumari “Yogini” / Acrylic Ink on Canvas

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma

JCAM: What is your professional name.

BSS: Bhawani Shanker Sharma JCAM: Where were you born and does that place still influence you?

BSS: I was born in Banasthali Vidyapith, district in Tonk, Rajasthan, India. My birth place had a significant influence on me and this is visible in my series titled “Fair” wherein I had transformed peacocks into human forms.

JCAM: Do you have family, friends or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

BSS: My family includes my wife, 2 sons and daughter-in-law. My wife and younger son stays with me in Jaipur and elder son and his wife are settled in London.

My family has always been a facilitator in my work, especially my wife, an academician, has been a great support in my creative journey. Without her support it would have been very difficult to achieve what I have achieved in my life.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art? Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do?

BSS: My father and uncle were artists and my grandfather was a poet. I can say that art was in my blood since my father himself was among the world’s 18 best bird artists. I always had an easy access to the art materials.

I remember that I started painting since I could hold pencil and brush. I used to play with father’s art materials. In 1952 during my school days when my work was appreciated during a group exhibition of students and teachers at New Delhi All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, I decided to make my career in the field of art.

JCAM: Why do you make art now?

BSS: I make art for creative and aesthetic satisfaction and to continue the exploration of

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my artistic capabilities.

JCAM: How has your work changed or developed over time?

BSS: Over the 50 years of my art journey, my artwork has undergone a lot of changes.

From sketch book to large wall murals, pencil and pen to chisel and welding tools, my artwork has witnessed a lot of changes. The only thing which remained the same was my love for nature and continuous experimentation with different art forms.

JCAM: What are you trying to communicate with your art?

BSS: Through my different series of artworks I have tried to communicate a different message. For example, through my “Flowering of the Forms” series I have tried to depict the complex relationship between man, nature and animal, revealing through the pseudo-creature himself and his kinship with nature, bridging the gulf between the real and useable world. It is depicted in a simple and subtle manner.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making?

BSS: No set patterns, routine and rituals for me. Art is a form of expressing one’s creativity and creativity cannot spur when it is bounded with rituals, routine and set patterns. Journey of art making should always be free, with no boundaries, exploring new dimensions every time one works.

JCAM: What element(s) of art making do you enjoy the most and why?

BSS: I always enjoy sketching and drawing.

JCAM: What is your most important artist tool(s) and why? What are the art making tools you use now?

BSS: Pencil, pen, ink, colors and brushes are my favorite tools because I can use them spontaneously. Nowadays I am using chisel to carve a wood mural.

JCAM: How do you know when a work is finished?

BSS: When total harmony of colors and forms is achieved I realize that the art work is finished.

JCAM: What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

BSS: I am trying to explore more in wood relief work and want to try sand stone and marble also.

JCAM: What is the first artwork you ever sold?

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BSS: A color sketch was the first artwork which I sold in 1972 during my first show at Jahangir Art Gallery, Mumbai.

JCAM: Do you make a living from your art ?

BSS: Yes, I make living through teaching art in the University.

JCAM: What strategies will you share with other artists on how to become successful professionally?

BSS: To be successful artists should be true to their creation and always be in dialogue with the connoisseur.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life?

BSS: I want to continue my creative journey and remain involved in doing aesthetic orientation of students, art teachers, designers and architects so that I can contribute towards the art fraternity with my experience. I also want to revive and revitalize Jaipur fresco technique through organizing workshops.

JCAM: What interesting project(s) are you working on at the moment?

BSS: I am working on a wood mural and planning very soon to start working on a fresco.

JCAM: What or who inspires you? Do you have a favorite-or influential-living artist?

BSS: Nature and colors of Rajasthan have always inspired me. Further, visiting different places always gives energy and stimulus for my new creations. Apart from Professor K.G.Subramaniam, who passed away recently. Professor Jyoti Bhatt is my favorite living artist. Both of them were my teachers in college days.

JCAM: What work of art do you wish you owned and why?

BSS: I wish to own paintings of Shanti Dave because he explored calligraphy and thick textured color forms with Indian contemporary vision.

JCAM: Where do you find ideas for your creative work?

BSS: Nature is my great source of my inspiration.

JCAM: What does being creative mean to you?

BSS: Creativity according to me is visualizing in your own way and transforming it in a spontaneous manner.

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JCAM: What is the best advise you ever had about how to be more creative?

BSS: Understanding the sensitive rhythm of nature will help in being more creative as nothing on this planet is more creative than mother nature.

Bhawani Shanker Sharma at work.

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Lord Ganesha” / Acrylic on Canvas

Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Peahen at Riverside” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Bull” / Welded Iron

Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Cock” / Welded Iron

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Fair II” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “King Peacock” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Peacock Family” / Wood & Metal Sheet

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Untitled IV” / Wood Print

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Untitled I” / Wood Print

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Flower” / Jaipur Fresco

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Cityscape” / Wood

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Flowering of the Form - III” / Ink on Paper

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Flowering of the Form - II” / Oil and Ink on Canvas

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Bhawani Shanker Sharma “Flowering of the Form - I” / Oil and Ink on Canvas

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Bibekananda Santra JCAM: We are excited to feature the work of Bibek Santra. Mr. Santra was born in West Bengal in 1968. He pursued his arts education in both India and France.

Bibek has won numerous awards for his art work in India.

Additionally, Bibek Sandra has exhibited his work, done workshops, art festivals, and artist residencies in India, Hungary, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Greece, the USA, England, and France. His work has been featured in more than 180 selected and invited exhibitions world wide.

Bibek is currently involved in a nearly daily activity of creating what he calls “public art”. What follows is a short series of talking points that Bibek has supplied about his “public art” projects.

A number of images from various “public art” projects form the gallery pages documenting Mr. Santra’s work in various locations in India.

JCAM: What can you tell us about your ongoing “public art” projects.

BS: “What is “PUBLIC ART” for me?

Public art: It is my idea of an effective way to enhance art awareness, a beautiful fiction that all can see, and it is accomplished through my creative ways of working.

Public art: It is done very much in the simplest way I can image and practice.There is always some inner message at work. I think it is not necessary for everyone to understand all of a work. It is of utmost importance to put that work out where all can see.

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Public art: Each work is different. Sometimes works are colorful, making us jolly, and sometimes they are black and white, revealing the gloominess that lurks within the deepest and darkest corners of our society and ourselves.

Public art: It is about my respect of the nature of each situation, because I am using different spaces — just as I find them in each place.

Public art: With my work, it is not a permanent thing, it is only for the time being. It is there and then it is gone, but not from the memory of those who witness it.

Public art: It has nothing to do with conventional art market. It is in part about my enjoyment of interacting with common people of each location that bring all participants joy and begins conversations about art.

Public art: I am living in a society that is huge. It is perhaps impossible to change it much. Even so, it is a way to do something positive for my society.

Public art: As a native Indian I have a tremendous positive message to carry through my public art to other Indians about our daily life, our emotions, our dreams, our spirituals and our ritual sensations and traditions.

Public art: As an artist I am not going to give a direct message to the audience. For me public art is a kind of symbolical presentation that is most effective when accomplished in a simple way that is most effective for each space in which it is presented.

Public art: I personally believe that every creative person must find a challenging way of working that will do something of value both for himself and his neighbor.

Public art: I think successful public art is unconventional. It does not come out from a regular box like some product from the store. This kind of approach is what we used to call contemporary art practice.

Public art: As I am an Indian and live in that society my biggest possibility for creative practice is to do public art. Lots of possibilities are easily available here. We have many different kinds of natural space, traditional architecture, and a huge population. I will never run out of places to work or people to interact with.

Public art: Most of all I simply love to do experiments with different ways of creating imagery and creating novel installations in public places. I do believe in my ability to do this, and I enjoy doing it too.

Public art: I am going to continue working in public locations, in working in various ways, while always thinking about how I can use artistic factors such as space, surface, and media. I will carefully consider such things while presenting my commentary on important contemporary subjects and topics of interest to me.”

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Bibekananda Santra “Public Art Projects” / Mixed Media

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Era Tak JCAM: We are pleased to be able to feature the work of Indian artist Era Tak. We asked Ms. Tak to describe her background, artistic practice and other significant considerations about her life.

Below please find her responses.

ET: My name is Era Tak. Bikaner, Rajasthan, India is my birth place. I am a self taught artist.

I completed a B.Sc. and an MA (History) & PG diploma in Mass Communication.

Currently I am living in Jaipur, Rajasthan, well known as the Pink City. Rajasthan is a land of art, culture and creativity.

Colors are embedded in the state’s soul.

I am happily married and my family has been very much supportive. Without their love and support I am nothing! Luckily I also have some very good friends who always encourage me to do new things. Love is the biggest power source in this universe and I have that power station.

About “Making Art” As I have told you already, I am a self taught artist. I had never planned to be an artist. I was in Journalism but my soul was searching for a new and different dimension where I could get solace. I was not good at art and my drawing was very poor in my childhood.

But I was an avid learner.

I tried hard to improve my hand writing and drawing. Being a social science student I used to draw many sketches and diagrams for my practical files. This helped a lot. In 2011 when I joined Facebook, I posted some of my hobby drawings there. And there an American art lover Robert Collella came across my art work. He appreciated me a lot and gave me a place on his website Utopian.

From there one of my art works, “Storm Petrel” (a watercolor ) sold in New York. I got $250 USD from that artwork. I was on cloud nine. This inspired me to pursue art as a full time career. I had started working day and night. I am very passionate about colors.

Art gives me strength to survive in this harsh world.

I am also a creative writer. My words have colors and my colors have words. Colors give me power to make my own beautiful world. They enable me to express my inner joys and pains.

In the search of dignity is one of my favorite work… woman is power and it is high time to recognize her strength. She is not an object. Rapes and molestation cases are rising day by day. This world has becoming worst by each passing day.This painting is depicting the struggle of a woman.

About “Process” I started with watercolors. They are still my favorite. Lamp black (carbon powder) is another favorite medium. I make it by burning oil lamp and then collect the black powder and with the help of a newspaper brush (which I make by folding newspaper cuttings) and cotton I make paintings.

I also work in acrylic. It is a fast medium. It gives me freedom to do more experiments with textures! Knife, worn out credit cards, combs, sponges etc. are my favorite tools.

Before I start painting I have a whole painting in my mind. Sometimes I draw a rough sketch.

The painting process is like a meditation for me … when I paint I even forget to eat or drink. I do not paint daily, but when I start to paint I paint for several days at a stretch. I would love to work in oil paints as it is the most ancient yet new medium. It gives us freedom to improve again and again without much trouble.

About “Working as an Artist” My first artwork has been sold in New York through Facebook in 2011. Till now I have sold many of my paintings in India and abroad. Yes, I am earning my living by selling paintings. I am a freelance artist and writer. My hobby is my profession now! Happy soul!

About “The Future” In 2013-14 one of my art works, “BONDING” was selected in National art exhibition conducted by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. It was my biggest achievement. I have done 5 solo shows and many group shows till date. People love my art.They are showing interest and buying my art work. This gives me new energy to work more and more. I am very enthusiastic about my career in the Arts. Art is my passion … my life line. I am trying hard to develop new style. Era’s style. And very soon I will develop it.

I now have done 8 solo shows and many group shows till date. I did my first solo in 2012 at Jaipur (Rajasthan). I have made three short films and written five books. My passion and desire for learning is my real power.

About “Inspiration” I am a keen observer. Observation is my main inspiration. I talk to people, learn about their worries, their happiness and pain. I take photographs. I smell raindrops. Everything in this nature inspires me to paint.

Every artist is unique. Michelangelo and Von Gogh are my favorites in the European style. The “Fall of Eve” and “No More Fear“ are my favorite art works. Eve ate the forbidden fruit and then God snatched her angel status. She became worldly. In this painting you can see the shattered feathers of EVE. “No more Fear” is a thought provoking piece. A mother is educating her daughter to survive in this “Man’s World.”

Some men are like snakes. So She is teaching her the art of survival. Both paintings are very close to our social nature.

LAST: About “Creativity” I find that my ideas come from Nature. I love to observe Nature and people. I am a good listener so it gives me more ideas. And love is my biggest inspiration … I love myself the people around me. So every beautiful and living thing is an inspiration for me. A pure and vigilant heart is always creative. I can also share this: Write or Paint that which is inside you, otherwise it will kill you to hold it in. So I write and Paint to make my world more lively and beautiful … and to keep myself ALIVE!”

Era Tak “Kites in the Red Sky” Acrylic on Wood

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Era Tak “Dreamer” / Painting

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Era Tak “Liberty 2” / Painting

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Era Tak “Jilted Lover / Painting

Era Tak “Kingdom of Women” / Painting

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Era Tak “Soulmates” / Painting

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Era Tak “Blue Paradise” / Painting

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Era Tak “Colorful City” / Painting

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Era Tak “Isolation” / Painting

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Era Tak “Box of Memories” / Painting

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Era Tak “City on Wheels” / Painting

Era Tak “City on Plateau” / Painting

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Era Tak “Water Game” / Painting

Era Tak “Water Game” / Painting

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Jeffery L. Geller JCAM: We are privileged to present the visual artworks of Dr. Jeffery Geller.

Dr. Geller was asked to describe his background and artistic practice. Below please find his responses.

JG: “My given name is Jeffery L. Geller. I go

by Jeffery Geller. I’m originally from Wyoming. A fellow Wyomingite, Jackson Pollack, has always been an inspiration to me. I admire the spontaneity of his work and the fact that the process of his artistic production shows transparently in his finished surfaces.

After living my first ten years in Evanston, Wyoming, my family moved to Southern California, where I lived for twelve years. My bachelor’s degree in philosophy (1974) is from California State University Northridge.

During my time at CSUN, I spent two years studying in England, one year in Sheffield, another at Oxford. Graduate school brought me back the U.S., specifically to Durham, N.C. to continue studying philosophy at Duke University.

During my time at Duke, I had the opportunity again to study abroad, this time in Berlin.

For two years I studied German philosophy there before coming back to Durham to write my dissertation on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s criticisms of psychoanalysis. After I completed my dissertation and received my doctorate (1982), I took a teaching position at the University of North Carolina, Pembroke, where I have been ever since.

During my thirty four year tenure at UNCP I had occasion to spend a couple more years abroad, as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in Singapore (1989-90) and as a fellow of the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France (1993). Beginning in junior high school I began taking art classes and that continued through high school, college, and graduate school.

My artmaking goes back as far as I can remember. One of my favorite memories from junior high school in Southern California is of making linoleum prints. Forty years later, while at UNC-Pembroke, I got to work again using printmaking processes with Ralph Steeds. While at Duke, I worked for a couple years with Vernon Pratt in the university painting studio.

At UNCP, where I’ve taught philosophy, I’ve worked in close association with many artists on various media. Art is more a way of life than a pastime and the Art department

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at UNCP has been extremely accommodating. At UNCP I have continued to paint and have taken up collage and ceramics.

Thirty two years ago I began to work with clay. I took a couple of classes with Bonnie Kelly at Robeson Community College in pottery. In the last three years I’ve had occasion to work again with clay, this time not so much on the wheel. It’s a great joy to sculpt a piece, bisque it, glaze it, and load it one last time into the kiln. Every step in the process presents a different challenge and brings new surprises. For the time being, many of my favorite creative ideas are about ceramic sculpture.

Whenever I go to a gallery or art museum, I learn something new about possibilities that hadn’t occurred to me before. Since I live nearly half the year in New York City, there are plenty of chances to go to exhibits. But since studio space is at a premium in the city, at least where I live with my wife on the upper west side, it’s always enjoyable to get back to UNCP. Here studio space is available provided I sign up for at least one class a semester.

The professors in the Art department here are very unselfish. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been able to participate in two aluminum castings with Adam Walls and have even managed to sit in occasionally on a class with John Antoine Labadie on digital art.

Though I am not all that comfortable in the digital world, I’ve had occasion to work on projects in collaboration with Larry Arnold (UNCP Music department) and Jamie Litty (UNCP Mass Communication department). Being part of an artistic community is a valuable stimulus because art is about both making and sharing.

My current passion is ceramics, though I still work in two-dimensional media like painting and collage. There is a crossover between my philosophical interests and my creative activities, the ideas I encounter in my scholarship find their way into my painting, collage, and ceramic sculpture. The main philosophical theme that finds expression in my artistic work is the commonality shared by different dimensions, emphatically including time.

In philosophy, the nature of time was a preoccupation of such thinkers as Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead. In art, the Italian Futurists focused their efforts on capturing temporal succession in a two-dimensional medium. I try to allow temporality to express itself by depicting succession in activities such as dance or the growth of a plant.

Flowers are especially apt, since their organic nature suggests successive stages of life.

Much of my work, especially over the last few years in ceramic sculpture, explores boundary crossings between different sense modalities, especially between the tactile and the visual. By suggesting the sensuous nature of the creative process, I hope to draw attention to process, and thus to time. My recent collages, which contain painted images as well, are instances of self-conscious boundary crossing, the framing devices covered by images designed to complement and enhance the principal subject matter surrounded by the frame.”

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Jeffery Geller “Rock Garden” / Ceramic

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Jeffery Geller “The 7th Disclosure” / Ceramic

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Jeffery Geller “Coil” / Ceramic

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Jeffery Geller “Awaiting Flight” / Ceramic & Mixed Media

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Jeffery Geller “Another Chance” / Ceramic

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Jeffery Geller “The Ascent” / Acrylic

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Jeffery Geller “The Guest” / Painted Collage

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Jeffery Geller “The Opening” / Acrylic & Ink

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Jeffery Geller “The Ravelling” / Montage

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Jeffery Geller “Three Facets” / Painted Collage

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Jeffery Geller “An Extra Channel” / Collage

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Jeffery Geller “Above the Cross” / Collage

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Katarzyna Szula JCAM: What is your professional name? Where were you born and does that place still influence you?

Where do you live now and how does that place influence you? Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

KS: Hi my name is Katarzyna Szula. I’m also know as Kasha. I was born in Katowice in Poland.

Katowice is a small industrial town and it influences my ideas and thoughts towards everything I paint.

I live now in a small part of London called Northolt which is famous for its airbase from the World War. I have been living in Northolt for the last 12 years.

I will soon be relocating my life to Chicago in the next few months. With support regarding my art if I'm honest I don't have much, but the little support I do have is very important to me, my family and friends. They make a big difference in my life because they at times can give me the motivation I need so I can progress with doing what I love — which is painting.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art? Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do? Why do you make art now? How has your work changed or developed over time? What are you trying to communicate with your art?

KS: My mum was an artist so as for when and how I started making art, it was a natural process because art was already in my life from when I was born. I believe the first piece of art I created my mum told me I was 5 years old.

I realized that this art thing was serious and something I needed to have in my life when I was 12. Reason being it was this moment when I was in my art lesson in

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high school and our study for the day was Figure drawing. It was a completely new side to art to me that I was learning.

Reasons I make art now is firstly because I need self gratification and the feeling of doing something that is close to my heart but yet I will never be perfect in; for me that is the most beautiful struggle.

Over time like with anything in life my work has changed, obviously getting older developing my skills and just generally evolving as a person new and in life are all portrayed in my work.

Communicating with people with my art I would say is not easy because maybe I'm selfish but the first thing I'm doing when I'm creating is communicating with myself.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making? What element(s) of art making do you enjoy the most and why? What is your most important artist tool(s) and why? How do you know when a work is finished? What are the art making tools you use now? What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

KS: Creative patterns or routines or rituals with my art making I'd say always vary.

I will never make art if I don't have the right mood to create. The first creative pattern I need is to be in the right mind state to create.
 The elements of making art I most enjoy is simple really, it's just being able to put my visions, thoughts, ideas into something physical.

My most important artist tool I believe is my mind, and the willingness to always learn and try to reach perfection that I know I never will.

With a finished piece of my art I truly believe nothing is ever finished. What maybe finished to one is just the beginning for another.

Art making tools for now generally for me go like this. Find an idea, study it, decide on the size I want it to be, and make some time and create.

Creative mediums I would love to pursue, I am doing so now, and that path is deep down into the digital realm.

JCAM: What's the first artwork you ever sold? Do you make a living from your art?

What strategies with you share with other artists on how to become successful professionally?

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KS: The first art work I ever sold I was about 16 yeas old. I was doing copies of famous artists, and this painting was a copy of Van Gogh's Cafe. I sold it for 100zl Polish money which is about $30USD I think.

I don't make a living from my art unfortunately but what I don't make in money I make in happiness for my soul.

About making it as a professional artist … I can't yet give advice on how to get financial success. But in making good art I can just say work hard and always push your ideas forward and never be scared to try something new or care what people think of you or what you’re doing.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life? What interesting project are you working on at the moment?

KS: Goals for my future is simple, I want art to be my life full time, so everyday you could say going to work for me will be art, be it actually painting or searching for new ideas to paint or draw what ever really.

I am taking steps into the digital realm of art, which I find fascinating. Basically creating via the computer rather then conventional paint and canvas. As you can see from my digital art work.

An interesting project I’m working on at the moment is painting onto canvas with oil paint a digital artwork I've done called "Industrial Galaxy" which you can see in my work in this very journal.

JCAM: What or who inspires you? Do you have a favorite — or influential — living artist? What work of art do you wish you owned and why?

KS: My inspirations generally come from nature and organic materials. Colors, shapes, textures the things I need to create what I do, all comes from everyday life.

I wouldn't have a particular favorite artist as there is too much art out there to call one artist a favorite.

About owning one piece of art in my possession if I'm truly honest it would be Jackson Pollock's “Autumn Rhythm”.

JCAM: Where do you find ideas for your creative work? What does “being creative” mean to you? What is the best advice you ever had about how to be more creative

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KS: Finding ideas for my creative work is pretty basic really. The last several paintings I've done for example, I was at the sea side and I took some photos on my camera of some stones that I found interesting. If you take a look at my painting "Purple Acid Lava" that was created from one of my stone photographs. 


Being creative to me is creating something from nothing, pushing simple raw ideas as far as They can go or I can take them. The best ideas I had about being more creative is don't be afraid to try new things and to progress yourself and discover the best in you.

Katarzyna Szula "Purple Acid Lava" Oil painting

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Katarzyna Szulc “Pre Utopianism” / Digital Artwork

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Katarzyna Szulc “Chameleon Sand Dune” / Digital Artwork

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Katarzyna Szulc “Stargate War” / Digital Artwork

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Katarzyna Szulc “Controversy Milky Way” / Digital Artwork

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Katarzyna Szulc “Purple Electric Indigo” / Digital Artwork

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Katarzyna Szulc “Dark Fissure” / Oil Painting

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Katarzyna Szulc “Sea Fruit” / Oil Painting

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Katarzyna Szulc “Canyon Antelope” / Oil Painting

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Oliver Wong

JCAM: Oliver Wong is a very talented tattoo artist with a fascinating background. In his former life Oliver worked as a financial advisor / securities broker before attending the MBA program at the China Europe Business School in Shanghai. After graduating he found himself displeased with the impact big business was having on China's environment and the world at large. Instead of pursuing a corporate career, Oliver began studying tattooing under Shanghai, Zhen Cang Tattoo's Master and founder “Just” Shao Gang. Following his apprenticeship, Oliver returned to San Francisco and began tattooing in October of 2011. Oliver Wong is the owner and sole artist at “Thousand Stroke Tattoo Studio” in San Francisco.

Contact information is: Web: http://www.oliverwongtattoo.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Thousandstroketattoo Instagram: @oliverwongtattoo OW: I personally consider tattooing to be a fine art and I treat it as such by continually looking for ways to improve the quality of my craft. I have found that many of the principals applied to other media used to create aesthetic balance and visual clarity can also be applied to tattoos. Clients will likely wear my tattoo work for the rest of their lives and I want to make sure they are proud to share the art with others. My goal is to make sure the tattooing I do is originally designed and unique to its owner. I enjoy doing custom illustrative tattoo work for people because it allows me to tap into my inner creativity to help my clients tell their stories.

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Although my work is heavily influenced by Asian art, I choose not to limit the scope of my tattoo work to any of the popular tattoo genres. This allows me to explore and continually grow as an artist. Instead I look at my projects in broader terms, choosing to limit black outlines, and relying more on the illusion of depth created by value and contrast.

During my design process, I leverage both digital and traditional media. Digital design has become essential in allowing me the versatility to explore possibilities under tight time constraints. Traditional media is used to bridge the gap where digital applications are inappropriate. In addition, I have worked on a variety of skin types and tones, which allows me to assist my clients in gaining the best outcome for their personal situation.

As a personal collector of tattoos, I am well aware that people make mistakes with tattoos and I am more than willing to cover up and re-work existing tattoo work to help clients re-new confidence in their appearance. People have the capacity to change over their lifetimes and so should the body art that they wear. Several pieces featured here are in fact cover ups of unwanted tattoos.

JCAM: Where were you born and does that place still influence you?

OW: I was born in San Francisco, which exposed me to a variety of cultures, cuisine, and art throughout my childhood.

JCAM: Where do you live now and how does that place influence you?

OW: I currently live in San Francisco, and I think the Bay Area (surrounding cities) provide me with the opportunity to meet interesting people from all walks of life.

JCAM: Do you have family, friends, or fellow artists who support you in your work, life and art making and how do they make a difference in your life?

OW: My entire network of friends, family, and fellow artists all contribute to allowing me to pursue my craft. In addition to being supportive of my life path, my parents are kind enough to allow me to stay with them in San Francisco, which has taken a huge burden off of me financially. This has allowed me to invest a great deal in my craft to purchase quality tools and materials.

My friends have been helpful in keeping my morale high and introducing opportunities to me. My Tattoo Master, Shao Gang and his wife Gan Ni, have invited me to stay in their home for months at a time during my visits back to Shanghai to continue my studies as a tattooist. The people around me are all supportive of my work and for this reason I have been allowed to focus more on the creation of art rather than monetizing it.

JCAM: When and how did you start making art?

OW: I started making art when I was kid. I used to try to copy box art for Gundam model kits and comic books. This interest led me to try using a lot of basic “how to” drawing books as guides.

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JCAM: Can you describe the time when you first realized that creating was something you absolutely had to do?

OW: I was late bloomer in this respect, I had always doodled in school and professional settings. However, it wasn't until I completed an MBA in Shanghai 2011 and was met with the prospect of an unhappy lifelong office career that I knew I had to alter my trajectory toward something more creative.

JCAM: Why do you make art now?

OW: I enjoy the process of taking something from my imagination and bringing it from a concept into reality. It is pretty surreal to look over a finished piece of work and know that the piece you are staring at has come from your mind. I especially enjoy tattooing because of its indelible quality and that it is painfully performed on a living medium.

For this reason no matter how small or simple the tattoo is, it will always carry a great weight for me.

JCAM: How has your work changed or developed over time?

OW: I have started to put more of myself and aesthetic sensibilities into my tattoo and design work. Earlier in my career I use to dogmatically mimic the work of others in my tattoo designs.

Currently, I feel like my work is more and more original and my personal style is starting to show through. I also feel confident about my ability to improvise beyond the references designs when working directly on the skin.

JCAM: What are you trying to communicate with your art?

OW: Tattooing exists at the intersection of fine art and commercial art. I want to push the boundaries of that intersection toward fine art and demonstrate that tattooing has the same capacity for high expression like any other traditional media.

JCAM: Do you have any creative patterns, routines or rituals associated with your art making? What element(s) of the tattoo process do you enjoy the most and why?

OW: When designing a custom tattoo, I will typically work through a series of iterations before arriving at a final design. I start with conceptual rough sketches to build my composition. Next, I focus on adjusting and polishing details while rendering. I normally build all my designs in gray-scale to make sure I have the desired value range I am seeking.

If the piece is colored, I will then experiment with a variety of colors to find a palette that creates the mood my client is seeking.

I enjoy getting to know people through the tattooing process and learning about their lives and why they have chosen to modify their appearance through tattooing. Each

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person has a unique and interesting life story that led them on the road to get a tattoo from me. Interacting with so many different people allows me to build a better understanding into different ways of existing in our world.

JCAM: What is your most important artist tool(s) and why? What are the art making tools you use now?

OW: I’d have to say my brain for being able to allow me to think creatively about how to approach each tattoo. I have to deal with the human body as a medium, which is very different from a piece of paper or canvas. The human body naturally wants to move, avoid pain and has contours everywhere. I have to think about how to manage these factors in a way where my clients and I are comfortable during each tattoo session.

Currently, I I use a Wacom Intuos III large drawing tablet, an i-pad pro, pencils, watercolor, and a tattoo machine.

JCAM: What new creative medium would you love to pursue?

OW: I would love to experiment with oil painting and film photography one day. I am constantly learning new things about photography because of how important it is to capturing the essence of a tattoo.

JCAM: What are your goals for the future, for both work and life?

OW: At the moment my raison d'être is my craft so it's hard to look beyond that. I hope to grow the business for my studio enough to hire another tattooist and begin training apprentices in 5 years or so.

I would also like to collaborate with other local artists to create tattoos and visual art.

Ultimately, I'd like to gain enough support that I could leave the urban setting and move to the country and establish a studio closer to the natural world.

JCAM: What interesting project are you working on at the moment?

OW: I just named my studio “Thousand Stroke Tattoo” after working under my own name as an artist for my entire tattoo career. My hope is to build an organization that is larger than myself and I needed to remove my name from the picture.

I'm also looking for a method to fund the study of Chinese traditional calligraphy. With the implementation of simplified written Chinese in Mainland China, traditional written Chinese is only used in Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong. I want to learn traditional calligraphy so that I can help preserve the written language by writing it permanently on people.

JCAM: What or who inspires you?

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OW: I am consistently inspired by Traditional Asian Art, Fantasy / Sci-Fi Art and Nature.

I have a predisposition for Asian Art because of my ethnic Chinese heritage and it evokes a strong desire to want to share these traditions with the modern world.

Fantasy / Sci-Fi is a large part of the entertainment and media I consume. I am consistently inspired by how creators in that space are able to conceive and develop alternative realities to tell stories. I derive a lot of design ideas from the patterns, textures and shapes found in the natural world. I am an avid camper and amateur rock climber so I regularly find myself surrounded by nature.

JCAM: Do you have a favorite — or influential — living artist?

OW: The list is definitely long for artist idols. But the two most influential living artists that I can name off the top of my head are my tattoo master Shao Gang and Bio-mech tattoo master, Guy Aitchison.

Mr. Shao has had a direct influence on my growth and development as an artist through direct mentorship. Spending a great deal of time in his company has had sort of an osmosis effect on my perspective of living as an artist. I am amazed by the fact that he is self-taught, did not complete high school, yet he has built a successful tattoo studio and produces world class tattoo work.

Mr. Aitchison has been tattooing almost as long as I have been alive and he is an amazing innovator who brought a new very abstract style,”bio-mech,” to the forefront in the tattooing world in the 90s. Currently, Mr. Aitchison continues to help others in the tattooing community through tattoo education opportunities for up and coming artists.

JCAM: Where do you find ideas for your creative work?

OW: I feel like as a tattooist, the clients come to me with the ideas. I am merely an interpreter applying my aesthetic sensibilities to their ideas to create the tattoo.

JCAM: What does “being creative” mean to you?

OW: “Being Creative” is a way of life for me. It means utilizing what is available to me to accomplish my goal with the best possible outcome. It means bringing something new into existence, be it a method, process, or way of existence. It means turning off the logical left side of the brain and letting your imagination take control.

JCAM: What is the best advice you ever had about how to be more creative?

OW: I would say this, just do and don't think too much about the end result. Try to find a reason why to continue rather than why to give up in anything in life. I think pursuing this line of thinking helps to train your mind to think creatively about how to make things work.

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JCAM: Here is Oliver Wong’s “Artist Statement” “ I personally consider tattooing to be a fine art and I treat it as such by continually looking for ways to improve the quality of my craft. I have found that many of the principals applied to other media used to create aesthetic balance and visual clarity can be also be applied to tattoos. Clients will likely wear my tattoo work for the rest of their lives and I want to make sure they are proud to share the art with others. My goal is to make sure the tattooing I do is originally designed and unique to its owner. I enjoy doing custom illustrative tattoo work for people because it allows me to tap into my inner creativity to help my clients tell their stories.

Although my work is heavily influenced by Asian art, I choose not to limit the scope of my tattoo work to any of the popular tattoo genres. This allows me to explore and continually grow as an artist. Instead I look at my projects in broader terms, choosing to limit black outlines, and relying more on the illusion of depth created by value and contrast.

During my design process, I leverage both digital and traditional media. Digital design has become essential in allowing me the versatility to explore possibilities under tight time constraints. Traditional media is used to bridge the gap where digital applications are inappropriate. In addition, I have worked on a variety of skin types and tones, which allows me to assist my clients in gaining the best outcome for their personal situation.

As a personal collector of tattoos, I am well aware that people make mistakes with tattoos and I am more than willing to cover up and re-work existing tattoo work to help clients re-new confidence in their appearance. People have the capacity to change over their lifetimes and so should the body art that they wear. Several pieces featured here are in fact cover ups of unwanted tattoos.” “

Oliver Wong “Butterfly Swirl” (Tattoo on left shoulder blade)

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Oliver Wong “Japanese Crow – Cover Up” Tattoo (Tattooed on left pectoral, cover up of an existing Japanese Kanji for Dream “夢” tattoo)

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Oliver Wong “Guan Ya and Red Hare” Tattoo (Tattooed back, ribs and arms)

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Oliver Wong “Pagoda & Cherry Blossoms” Tattoo (Tattooed on right shoulder)

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Oliver Wong “Japanese Dragon” Tattoo (Tattooed on outer left calf)

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Oliver Wong “The Writer’s Heart” Tattoo, Version B (Tattooed on right arm)

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Oliver Wong “Grandfather’s Hannya” Tattoo (Tattooed on right shoulder)

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Oliver Wong “Dragon – Cover Up” Tattoo (Tattooed on right shoulder, cover up of a smaller dragon and tribal sun tattoo)

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Oliver Wong “Money God” Tattoo (Tattooed on the back of right forearm)

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Oliver Wong “Chinese Dragon” Tattoo (Tattooed on right shoulder blade)

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Oliver Wong “Beeting Heart - Cover Up” Tattoo (Tattooed on left ankle, cover up of existing Prince symbol tattoo)

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Oliver Wong “Automotive Enthusiast - Cover Up” Tattoo (Tattooed on right outside calf, above and ankle, cover up of existing tattoo text)

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Peggy Hinaekian JCAM: Can you please tell us something of your background.

PH: I was born in Cairo Egypt. Egypt still influences me in my paintings because of the colors of the Sahara Desert and the Blue Waters of the Mediterranean Sea. I live now in Florida and California and those two places also influence my painting. They are both sunny places on the Ocean and California also has desert landscapes.

I am very influenced by the Blue of the oceans and the Orange of the sunshine. For my paintings, it is all about color.

The colors around me influence my mood.

Most of my family and friends support me very much in my work and my life. They make a difference just by being there.

JCAM: When did you begin to make art and how has your artistic practice evolved and changed over the years?

PH: I started making art at age two, when my mother asked me to draw a picture of my sister who was newly born. I drew a face with three hairs sticking out of its head. At age five I realized that I liked to draw on everything and I loved drawing from my imagination and from things around me.

I make art now because it is my passion. I can’t live without it. I have several ideas in my head and I have to get them out. Over time, my work has of course developed. When very young, I used to copy art from art books, magazines, and then I started creating from my own thoughts. I also did portraits of people. I am now in the abstract landscape mode and paint imaginary atmospheric landscapes sometimes adding collages of floating elements.

I try to make the viewer go into the landscape and live an experience. I cannot choose one painting of which I am most proud. The reason being that over 40 years ago, I painted completely different subjects (man/woman intertwined figures) and I do have some favorites from that period also. Then I have a few favorite etchings from my printmaking period. And now, I have a few favorites from my abstract period.

I like very pure, silent monochromatic paintings now, with a touch of color thrown in the atmosphere to focus the viewer’s eye. The reason I like quiet paintings now is because I have a very turbulent nature and my paintings give me peace.

JCAM: Do you have any rituals or patterns that are a part of your creative practice? What are your most important tools in your art-making?

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PH: I do not have any rituals, patterns or routines. I paint when I like and what I like. I do not enjoy the first prepping of the canvas. I enjoy the time when my mind dictates to me the path to follow to produce a painting. I do not have a preconceived idea of what I will paint. I just put myself in a color mood and my hand then follows my thoughts and guides me. It is almost subconscious.

My most important artist tool is of course the brush then the palette knife for surprise strokes.

Sometimes I don’t know when a work is finished. When I think it is finished, I let it stand in some prominent place in my house and look at it when I come and go Sometimes an idea comes to me and I immediately go and paint in the change. I am then satisfied and I let it rest. I use the same tools, brushes and palette knives. I would love to pursue encaustic paintings.

JCAM: Do you recall the first work you ever sold, and do you make a living as an artist?

PH: The first artwork I ever sold was in Montreal. During my first exhibition, I sold a painting done with a palette knife in oil of a woman with a flower, somewhat Modigliani style.

I don’t make a living from my art. That painting is now in a collection of a Museum in Galicia, Spain. It somehow landed at an antique shop in Geneva, Switzerland and was bought by the owner of the Museum. He asked me to give it a title as it had no title.

JCAM: What do you see in the future for your artistic activities?

PH: My goals for the future are to give more shows and to participate in art fairs. In life, I wish to continue painting and writing. I have just published my first novel entitled “Of Julia and Men” where I did the cover image and the 26 images of my etchings inside the book. My book is somewhat erotic in nature and I illustrated it with my sensual etchings. I am now producing large and small canvases — moody and atmospheric — for another exhibition planned for Switzerland, and writing my second novel. Five of my paintings just got sold in the Los Angeles Art Fair this January of 2017.

JCAM: Can you share something about what inspires you? Which artist’s works would you most like to own?

PH: Everything inspires me. People, the environment and the scenery around me. But most of all the inspiration is in my head. Colors inspire me the most. Yes, I could definitely explain what inspired a particular piece.

I do not have an influential living artist who inspires me. I like several artists but not one in particular. I would wish to own a Rothko because of the purity of form and colors.

JCAM: Where do you find your ideas for your work? Can you tell us how you think about creativity?

PH: I find ideas everywhere, looking at things and scenery, watching a movie, just strolling on the beach or in the countryside.

Being creative means to explore my mind at its fullest and try to transform my thoughts into paintings. I have not had any advice about being more creative. My imagination is my best advice. I let it flow without boundaries.

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Peggy Hinaekian “Dreaming in Aqua” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Orange Explosion” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Reflections in Red Desert” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Red Rain” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Blue Sails Under Blue Cloud” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Green Cloud in Blue Skies” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Orange Cloud” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Red Birds on a Wire” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Red Desert with Orange Sky” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Peggy Hinaekian “Blue Birds on a Wire” / Acrylic on Canvas

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Sharad Bhardwaj JCAM: We are pleased to be able to publish the work of Sharad Bhardwaj from Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. We met Sharad at the 2016 “Jaipur Art Summit” and were very impressed with his art work and the ethics of his artistic practice. JCAM asked Mr. Bhardwaj to write about his work. Here are his words.

BS: “My professional name is Sharad Bhardwaj, but in the art field people and art lovers call me “BLUEPAINTER” because blue is the predominant color in all my paintings.

My birthplace is Udaipur in Rajasthan, India. I am inspired by my place because Udaipur is also known as City of Lakes.

Here there is lots of blue surrounding us in nature. Today I still live in Udaipur.

My wife and I are living with my parents.

They are cooperative, and especially my wife supports me a lot. We did a love marriage. She was my classmate in college so she understands me a lot. Now she is an Indian government lecturer in higher secondary school.

Since my child hood I was doing drawing as a hobby. I achieved more than 96 certificates in art. But I started making art in really good way after 11th standard in school in 2001. Then I did one rendering of a water jug in blue colors. That was my first art work which I did completely in blue. I have that art work now also with me in my collection.

I am doing art in part so we can live a better life than we do now. A second reason is that I want to explore all over the world. I also want to give life to my works and my paintings to make this dream true. I took drawing as a subject in which I studied for my bachelor’s degree from Rajasthan School of Art in Jaipur in 2008. I received my master’s from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad from Banglore in 2010.

I have done many paintings in blue colors. Usually I do a series. I did these topics as series: LIFE IN UDAIPUR, BLUE POTS, UNDERWATER, MELTING SCULPTURE OF GANESHA, BLUE LIGHTS, UNIVERSE ETC … and others too.

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I found many changes happened in my paintings over time. To begin a work I select the objects which are the most interesting things in blue colors around me. Indigo was my first ever paint material and only because that pigment was easily available in bathrooms. And since then I have been creating all my blue paintings. And now I am trying to communicate to the world through my art that although people have seen many painters in past, with my artworks viewers are now looking for the first time at a “BLUEPAINTER”.

Regarding my artistic process, I am generally doing big works, and using flat surfaces to work on. In this way I mostly never tie my canvas in stretcher. I am using lots of water in starting each work too. I never draw any element in the beginning. I start by playing with shades of flowing, blue colors.

Some images in my artworks just come out in my mind, so then I process the images to create them on that art work. I am using textures, and a few elements which are inspired by nature. The only thing really I want in my artworks is to create something new of my own. My most important artistic tool is “blue colors” — without blue color I simply can’t work. Why? Because it is my identity and my life color.

Making artworks is never the same from piece to piece. Sometimes my paintings take too much time. That is frustrating. Sometimes it is not that way at all. I suppose it all depends on the atmosphere in my life. In my working there is not any fixed schedule, or diagram, or trick to do it.

I am very interested in the materials artists use to make their works. Generally I use acrylic colors on canvas, but sometimes I used mixed medium. I have experimented with materials like petrol, linseed oil, and other liquids for creating textured effects.

Looking for a new creative medium is always something I want to be doing. I particularly want to investigate ways of making some new textures in my work.

These days I am working as a professional artist. This has been since 2004. In 2004 I started selling my artwork. In some ways this contact was just a coincidence. Here is how it happened. One time I was coming from Mumbai in a train compartment and a gallery representative gave me a card. He asked me to come to the gallery. He requested that I bring some works. At that time I did not have as much confidence about the possibility of selling my works. Even so, I gave the gallery 3 works and I filled out consignment slips as they asked. Within a few days I got call from that same gallery.

They decided they wanted to purchase my works and offered me 20,000 rupees. It was very big amount according that time, but I replied confidently its first time so give me 21,000. They did so. That was the first sale of my art. Later on, as a professional I studied more about how to promote myself and sell my art too. I learned to always focus on my own art style. Sometimes a gallery will ask me to do figurative and use contrast colors. But I do not do it. I never will work like that; I will always work in my own style and identity.

I never do any exhibitions that charge the artist. I will only work with a gallery that offers to do a good promotion of my work. I am also regularly sending my artworks to different

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art societies and curators. I am also interested in working with art and film festivals, book publishers, creative art directors, and more. I have found that I can increase my network by sending emails and developing personal relationships. There is no fixed strategy to just follow, as professional success is different for everybody in his own way.

But, as for me, I always do unique and creative projects and I am always in touch with art lovers, art dealers, well-wishers, gallery curators, etc., everywhere.

I think about the future like everyone else. But, who can say about the future? No one say anything! I have a my few plans to roam around in world — that much I can say. I am now a national painter in India. People interested in art are aware of my name and my works. For example, I have more than 165 articles in news papers, and a 1 hour recording of a LIVE interview on national channel in India. Specific future targets are to connect my painting with the film industry, and with celebrities too. I love fashion and glamour, so I want to move in the celebrities world and do art for them and their projects.

I am always pursuing new projects and new ways of making my artworks. Currently I am working in 15 foot by 18 foot plastic roll with acrylic colors. In this space I am making a big eagle in my style. Why an eagle? Just because in the last few months I am looking at eagles. They are on my mind. I have always felt that the eagle is the only bird which is very near to blue sky. The eagle also has a very sharp eye. I see those aspects of the eagle as useful metaphors.

The eagle also causes me to start thinking about flying; about what it would like to be able to fly whenever you wanted to. Now I want to fly from India to know more about the world. Why? I did lots of art camps all over India. So now I want to fly out to explore my art just like the eagle explores the world it lives in.

Everyone asks about the inspirations for my paintings. I tell them I am inspired by all objects surrounding me that are in blue colors. Picasso had blue period paintings and other artists have focused on other colors, or worked in black & white with no color at all. As an artist I am a “BLUEPAINTER” like no one else!

I also want to share that it is coincidence that my date of birth is 25 October 1985, the same day of birth as Pablo Picasso. Perhaps that is why I am inspired by his big art works. In fact, I am inspired by all big master painters. But mostly as I am from India I am inspired by artists from India: the work of M.F. Hussain, and currently I love Anish Kapoor’s steel art works. I just have always loved big art works.

I am also thinking big in some of my future art projects. For example, I have designed a large tunnel art work which I recently submitted to the government of India. If they give me permission then I will do it in big hill near Udaipur. This is a very big project and for which I need special permission and big money. If I get the chance I will be happy to do this for my city. This carefully planned artwork will give my city a unique identity. It will also give me more value in art field as it is a world record project.

I must also share that I find creative ideas in children’s drawings, and just in the way children live their lives. They are very natural about what they do. Adults are doing art to get their name “out there” or to gain fame, or to earn a lot of money. Children are just

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who they are and make what they make. It might be best if more adults were this way too.

Being “creative” is also something I am asked about quite often. I am asked about being creative and also about how others can be more creative.To me being creative means finding yourself. In finding yourself you are also finding your own way, and your own style. If you are an artist then perhaps this also means using all the elements of art making in your own way and giving a dynamic look, and also having beautiful thoughts as well. That is just my opinion.

In closing I can also give a small suggestion to everyone: Don’t follow the big name in the Internet world. Just follow the children in how they make in their drawings. It is there that you will find lots of things; daily you will learn a lot from children.”

Sharad Bhardwaj “Untitled” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj The artist with a 5 foot by 7 foot painting-in-progress

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Blue Elephant - 16 feet in Diameter” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Underwater #1” & “Underwater #2” / Paintings

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Sharad Bhardwaj Painting in Progress on 4 May 2017.

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Untitled – 4 by 8 feet” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Shree” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Selected 11” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Selected 6” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Ganesha” / Painting

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Sharad Bhardwaj “Tonk” / Painting

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Vrinda Haldia JCAM: We met Ms. Vrinda Haldia at the 2016 “Jaipur Art Summit” in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Her work was featured on the grounds of the 2016 JAS and was the visual centerpiece of the activity outdoors.

Vrinda has both a B.F.A. and an M.F.A from the Rajasthan School of Arts in Jaipur. She is the recipient of many awards and her works have appeared in numerous exhibitions in India. Ms. Haldia’s work is included in a number of public and private collections.

JCAM asked Vrinda Haldia to describe herself, her background, and her artistic practice. Below are her responses.

VH: Hello, my name is Vrinda Haldia. I am from and am a resident of Jaipur, Rajasthan. I was born and brought up in this city. Over the years, this place has influenced me a lot and taught me great things. I admire its beauty, architecture, cultural activities, festive celebrations and especially the people here.

Also, if you are a shopaholic (like me), then you will love Jaipur! You‚ will find colorful, vibrant marketplaces in the old city with lots of Bandhej and Bandhini work, or mirror work, Rajasthani fabrics, Rajasthani jutis, jewelry stores, etc.

Talking about my family, I have grown up in a joint family and have got to learn our customs, traditional values and family unity over the years. From my mother, I have learned the strengths of a lady, the endless sacrifices for her family and the dedication towards her work.

When I look back at my journey of life till now, I see that life has taken me through many ups and downs. Our society never fails to astound me. It has both lead me up and even let me down at times. But I consider all this a part of life and henceforth, I reflect all these life experiences, through my Art.

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About making art: As we can say - It’s the re-birth of Art, with the birth of a new soul in the world. From the birth of a child, his inclination and fascination towards art begins gradually, in unknowingly many ways. May it be drawing caricatures, curvatures in sand with your finger tip or joining the stars in the sky to form interesting shapes. My art journey also began with all this, and over the years, although the medium of art expression changed, but my passion only grew more and more with time. When I was a kid, I loved to draw designs in my notebooks, also I used to relate all things with design so that it can be more creative. It was then I realized, that this is what I want to do.

Earlier, I used to paint as part of my studies, but now I paint to express my feelings, my emotions. I also want to spread a social message for women empowerment through my art.

My Artistic Process: I paint puppets. I am mostly influenced by bright colors like red, yellow, blue, green and you will find these colors widely used in my paintings. These colors help me reflect my inner soul easily. I love to paint on canvases, and along with it I also paint on wood, glass, almirahs and many other creative objects as well. I usually use brushes and knife to paint. I paint until I get a satisfaction and happiness seeing my painting. Apart from paintings, I also do experiments in 3D works. In my future, I aim at creating more and more records through my creative works.

About working as an artist: When I try to remember about my first sold Artwork, I get a vague image of the incident in my mind. It was around four years back, a lady from Denmark, an art lover, admired one of my paintings very much. She bought my work. It was an abstract painting on sheet reflecting light and feelings. This was the first and after that I never really sold any of my work. I basically make an earning through my teaching. Yes, I teach art to people.I talk to other artists, work with them, learn about their working styles. I get to learn a lot through them.

About the future: Pursuing my passion for teaching, I want to open my own art school, where I could deliver all of my knowledge, may it be related to art of painting or sculpture or art of living. I have already started working on it and have full faith that I will be able to fulfill this dream soon. Currently I am working on puppets, Rajasthani puppets, the pride of Rajasthan.

My inspiration: I think Rajasthani culture is what gave my art a direction. Apart from this, I am highly inspired by many artists like Rameshwar Singh, Niloufer Wadia, Sayed Haider Raza. I wish my hard efforts could make me reach out to the common people and my art would spread the message to a large audience.

About creativity: I keep visiting the exhibitions of many good artists and also surf the Internet for some good works online. I also attend many workshops. I keep myself surrounded by creativity. I feel that we all are surrounded by creativity, only the need of the hour is to recognize that beauty. Flowing water has creativity and so does the lotus growing in a sludge and so does the reflection coming from the floor. So I must say, creativity lies in the eyes of the beholder.�

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Vrinda Haldia “My World” / Mixed Media on Wood

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Vrinda Haldia “Puppets in Jaipur City” / Acrylic Painting

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Vrinda Haldia “The Beauty of the World” / Acrylic Painting

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Vrinda Haldia “Expressions of Myself” / Acrylic Painting

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Vrinda Haldia “Hide and Seek” / Acrylic Painting

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Vrinda Haldia “Contemporary Puppet” / Acrylic Painting

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Vrinda Haldia “Puppet Art at the 2016 Jaipur Art Summit” / Mixed Media

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Vrinda Haldia “Puppet Art at the 2016 Jaipur Art Summit” / Mixed Media

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Vrinda Haldia “Puppet Art at the 2016 Jaipur Art Summit” / Mixed Media

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Vrinda Haldia “Puppet Art at the 2016 Jaipur Art Summit” / Mixed Media

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Margie Beth Labadie & Tonya Elk Locklear Introduce Earth Women Arts Sisters in creativity. That is what Margie Beth Labadie and Tonya Elk Locklear have become. Pursuing their creative passions toward a greater purpose, they have formed Earth Women Arts, a partnership to tell untold histories of Native Americans who continue to struggle in an overwhelmingly non-indigenous United States.

They are telling these stories through their exhibitions, workshops and soon in book form. All are titled, “Women of the Red Earth”.

For as long as she can remember, Tonya Elk Locklear (Lumbee/Oglala Lakota) has been writing about Native American identity, family life and Mother Earth. For more than thirty years, Margie Beth Labadie’s art and life work have reflected her commitment to social justice and the environment. Volunteering together for Jumbo Arts International, Margie and Tonya have created multi-cultural events in southeastern North Carolina through art, music and poetry programs.

Along the way, they learned about each other’s family histories and the similar feeling of loss which resonated with them both. Many of Margie’s family members were lost or killed in the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Tonya’s relations were relocated, assimilated and murdered in the American Indian Genocide.

Many deep conversations between them revealed Tonya’s continuing efforts to tell “newly written, untold histories” of Native Americans.

Tonya’s poetry gives a voice to those who have none. Listening to Tonya’s poems, Margie immediately felt she knew how to illustrate those words to draw people in to read them. In solidarity, their work together started to emerge.

Margie began the first images by scanning an ear of Tonya’s Indian corn. Deep maroon and golden kernels were transformed into tiny seed beads in a complex weaving. In another image, magnified corn kernels glow like jewels, each with an internal light. The images are made to surround and support Tonya’s words. Together, Tonya and Margie have found new and powerful ways to present their creative works.

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With a view through the Indigenous lens, the visually striking, illustrated literary works are meant to knock down the stereotypical walls that continue to be the European perception of Native Americans. Margie’s artwork incorporates many of Tonya’s Native American objects in ways that entice viewers to come closer to read stories written in poetry and prose.

Locklear and Labadie’s collaboration is meant to create new spaces for Native Americans and Non-Native Americans to see each other in new ways. Earth Women Arts is focused on bringing either printed or projected works to as many venues as possible. They hope that the exhibition “Women of the Red Earth” will resonate with viewers and spark dialogs with and about Indigenous peoples.

The traveling exhibition “Women of the Red Earth” is currently at the Imperial Center in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA through September 9, 2017. Exhibitions are scheduled in 2017-18, including at Blackhills State University in South Dakota.

“Women of the Red Earth” is being presented as Spoken Word on the public television series CRESCENDO! You can find the program at http://seattlecommunitymedia.org/ series/crescendo/episode/crescendo-343-women-red-earth-poetry-tonya-elk-locklear.

To learn more and find out about hosting the exhibition “Women of the Red Earth” at your venue, contact Tonya and Margie at www.earthwomenarts.com.

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The 2017 Jaipur Art Summit Going into its fifth year, the December 2017 Jaipur Art Summit (JAS) promises once again to be an exciting and varied event held in the Pink City of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan, India.

The organizers of the JAS along with key cultural centers, artists groups and other allied organizations are collaborating to promote and exchange art in Rajasthan.

The 2017 JAS is expected to showcase the creative arts across multiple artistic media.

Growing quickly in popularity and positive impact, the JAS is expected to surpass last year’s numbers with more than 700 artists participating from India and 50 countries.

The 2017 Jaipur Art Summit will provide a large canvas for exhibition, art discussion, and discovery of tribal & traditional art and art exposure for new artists. And it will provide a unique platform that exposes galleries and artists to Rajasthani audiences, art collectors, art promoters and art enthusiasts in general.

Besides its commercial role as an art trading place the 2017 JAS continues to play a major role in generating human interest and awareness about art by taking it to the public and spreading the knowledge base for art including Bhil Mandana, Leather Bass, Manjusha, Pata Chitra, Phad Art, Tribal Art, Warli and Sanjhi.

The Jaipur Art Summit is spreading its wings into Art Films and Experimental Cinema which will include National Awarded Films and International Films from Animation, Advertisement, Short Film, Documentary and Traditional Arts from around the globe.

Everyday of the JAS will include an interaction with producers, directors or actors from the films.

At the 2017 Jaipur Art Summit “Art Talks” and “Seminars” will focus on the role of Art and Culture in Tourism, Archaeology, History & Heritage and include contemporary art

and the culture of Rajasthan. Discussion topics will include Indian art, archaeology and literature; Indian Culture and Civilization through the Ages: A Global Heritage; and the preservation, conservation and documentation of temple murals and wall paintings.

JAS 2017: When & Where: The 5th edition of Jaipur Art Summit is scheduled for 14 to 18 December 2017 at Ravindra Manch, Ram Niwas Bagh, Near Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur – 302004 India. http://www.jaipurartsummit.in/index.html Jumbo & JCAM founders Margie Labadie & John Antoine Labadie participated in the JAS International Artist Camp in 2016. “We found the enthusiasm of the organizers, the artists and the art viewing public were undeniable. We hope to see you there in 2017!”

“Amer Fort” Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Shailendra Bhatt (Goswami S K Bhatt) The JCAM is pleased to provide a glimpse into the background of Shailendra Bhatt, Founder Director of the Jaipur Art Summit. He is an art critic, art promoter, art event organizer and scholar.

JCAM - What was in your mind when you started the Jaipur Art Summit and how do you feel about it now?

SB - “I was born and bought up in a family where art, music and literature were and are top priority. I am a scholar of the traditional arts like Sanjhi, Mandna, Utsav Chowk, Aarti Design, Flower Installation and Samaj and represent the heritage of these traditional temple arts which have existed for a period of around 350 years. I have inherited these art forms from my forefathers who were amongst the one out of ‘Six Goswamis of Lord Chaitanya’.

I had worked 25 years with leading multi-national corporations, world wide, as a finance and accounts professional. My expertise is in strategic turnkey management, that is, to gain a clear understanding of organizations/projects and strive to identify issues before they become problems.

But, I always wanted to live in India. So I came back with the desire to do something different in Art, Music and Literature to do justice to my birth and family values. Now I want to contribute to the upliftment of Rajasthan’s contemporary art scenario and the survival of tribal and traditional artists globally.

I founded the Jaipur Art Summit with the prime objective of bringing together artists working in different mediums and genres, with cultural art players, art historians, critics, institutions and galleries from all over the country and abroad with a view to promote art and build a conducive environment of contemporary art. The summit aims to foster possibilities of partnerships, enhance creative skills, and broaden visions to create newer pathways for art promotions globally.

Working to help revive the original folk/tribal tradition and ensuring that the knowledge is kept intact through economical support and promotional activity allows the contemporary teachers to sustain and proliferate an essential aspect of the folk/tribal art form. We are seeking to preserve our cultural lineage with a focus on drawing attention and building support for the art forms where we see they are valuable but endangered.

I am happy. I spend all year contacting people, traveling and working on inviting artists to come and exchange art culture from India. I feel proud to be an Indian with the dream of making the Rajasthan art market into an affordable and viable art destination. The Jaipur Art Summit, now in its fifth year, is a dream becoming a reality.”

The 2017 Jaipur Art Summit: http://www.jaipurartsummit.in/index.html

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Vol.3, No.1, June 2017 “The Final Word”

Reading through the articles in the June 2017 journal for the final time lead us to extended conversations about our submitters interviews and commentaries. These revealed a number of interesting things.

Regardless of geographical location, education, gender, culture or age, most artists had offered much the same advice to readers: work hard, don’t expect an easy path, find your own voice, and recognize that art can be a powerful force in the in your life – and in the world.

JCAM artists also spoke about the need to take risks and move into territory that demanded novel and personally unprecedented decisions. Whether an artist had formal training or was self taught it was clear that each artist had persevered though difficulties to reach the point where their work was seeing public success.

Nearly all JCAM artists shared personal anecdotes about inspirational people, places and events. The specifics vary widely. We predict our readers will smile knowingly at some of what has been shared.

What these JCAM artists have shared with us makes it clear that we, as creative people, are more alike than we are different. Seeing such connectivity through art is a powerful understanding.

As we close in on the second decade of the 21st century it is obvious that we as a society have become more interconnected than ever before in human history. Join us in conversation on the “Journal of Creative Arts & Minds” Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JournalofCreativeArtsandMinds/ Email us your thoughts and ideas, or submit your creative works for consideration. jcam.jal@gmail.com Thanks to everyone for your support. Wishing you all happiness in 2017 – and beyond!

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Information for Submitters: September & December 2017 Issues JCAM is a unique project of Jumbo Arts International which holds all rights exclusively.

JCAM is a juried publication. All submissions are reviewed by a panel of experts assembled by the JCAM editors.

JCAM publications focus is on artistic creativity. We publish original visual artworks, articles on the visual arts, crafts, creative writing, poetry, performing arts, interviews, reviews, and columns on subjects appropriate to the focus of the journal.

JCAM is expanding to more issues per year: 30 September and 1 December in 2017.

The 2018 publication schedule will include 4 issues: January, April, July & October.

Submitters should contact the JCAM editorial team well in advance of these publication dates for information and guidance.

JCAM submissions: All email requests should be sent to jcam.jal@gmail.com. Upon request, interested parties will be sent the information and documents required for the formal submission of work to JCAM editors.

JCAM publishes in English. Are non-English submissions possible? Yes, in certain cases JCAM editors will work with artists to translate into English text documents that are directly related to visuals that have already been accepted for publication.

Current JCAM information is available on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JournalofCreativeArtsandMinds

Previously published issues of the JCAM are available online: https://issuu.com/jumboartsinternational Information about the JCAM publisher Jumbo Arts International is available online: http://jumboartsinternational.org/

All questions regarding the JCAM should be sent to: jcam.jal@gmail.com

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