Voice of the Artist: Selva Priya Sahadevan

Selva Priya Sahadevan teaches art and kindness in her studio on Millers Run Road in South Fayette.

Photo by Andrea Iglar

Voice of the Artist: Selva Priya Sahadevan

Teaching art and kindness

By Andrea Iglar

Art and teaching go hand in hand for Selva Priya Sahadevan.

The South Fayette resident has opened a painting studio, Getitfromnature Arts, on Millers Run Road to share her love of art and to draw out the creative side of youth and adults.

“Everybody has an inner artist,” she said. Her classes help people express themselves through painting, without seeking external validation of their work.

“There is no right or wrong with art,” she said. “It’s for ourselves when we do art.”

A friend commissioned Selva Priya Sahadevan to paint her parents as a gift for their anniversary. The portrait is based on a photo of the friend's mother laughing at her father's joke. The couple married in 1977.

Courtesy of the artist

By day, Sahadevan works an information technology job in the health care industry. When she shuts off her computer, her mind switches to art and teaching. She relaxes and forgets her worries.

“I’m always in a dreamy world when I start painting,” she said.

Sahadevan began practicing art at nine years old while growing up in the city of Tirunelveli in southern India, where art, dance and music were core curriculums at her school. Her teachers and principal encouraged her, while her mother and other artistically inclined relatives inspired her.

She now specializes in realistic portraits and accepts private commissions to paint people and pets.

Self-portrait, 2020

Courtesy of Selva Priya Sahadevan

Sahadevan moved to the U.S. in 2008, living in Washington State and New Jersey before coming to Pennsylvania. She lives in the Pinnacle Pointe neighborhood of South Fayette.

She was a hobbyist until winning an Emerging Artist scholarship from the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival two consecutive times, in 2019 and 2020. The honor propelled her to the next level.

“Now it really became my other profession,” she said. “Doing my own art business was always my dream.”

Selva Priya Sahadevan created this scene of a child and ducklings, "Frozen Moment in Time," as a nostalgic nod to her memories of playing with chickens when she was a girl.

Courtesy of the artist

An important part of her work is giving back to the community through art. Sahadevan regularly connects her approximately 100 students—including her own 12-year-old twins—with people in the community to make a real-world impact.

For example, students have made greeting cards for residents of senior citizen homes, created an art banner for a cancer center and given away free paintings at local events such as South Fayette Community Day.

Selva Priya Sahadevan set up a booth at South Fayette Community Day in August and gave away free paintings that her students had created. She photographed recipients and posted this collage on Facebook.

Sahadevan said the projects make the givers and the recipients happy and encourage the students to continue with acts of kindness and community service.

“That is my success, to have those seeds in them to give back to the community through their art,” she said.

Getitfromnaturearts, 295 Millers Run Road, South Fayette: 412-230-2360; getitfromnature.wixsite.com/priyaarts. Find Getitfromnature on Facebook and Instagram.