My art comes from a collection of memories, moods, and feelings gathered over time. My paintings are a celebration of happiness and creative freedom inviting viewers into a space that feels familiar as they recall their own personal connections to nature and quiet moments of joy.
- Anuja Aggarwal
“The things you did purely for pleasure as a child, with no incentive or fear, are the exact blueprints for what will fulfill you as an adult.”
My Story
I have always loved being surrounded by nature. My richest childhood memories are of playing in the garden with flowers and leaves, watering the plants, making garlands, wearing flowers on my head, collecting feathers and small pebbles, dragging a stick on the mud and drawing wavy patterns, swirling water and seeing how it flows, and so much more.
I don't remember anything much from my childhood. Just that once (when I was 5 yrs old probably), I was playing alone and had painted on a few sheets of paper torn out of a notebook. Nothing fancy, just scribbles with fingers dipped in paint. I clearly remember that each one was of different colour - blue, green, red and yellow. I didn't have anything to stick those papers on the wall, so I had used the paint itself at the back of those sheets and stuck them on the wall of the room. My mom was furious when she came and saw that I had spoiled the wall of our rented home. (I wish I had a pic of that day - my first private art exhibition!)
During my early school days, all I had were cheap art files and poster colours and the only thing I wished for was to paint on a canvas someday. I used to feel elated when my posters were put on class notice boards. I used to draw emoji-like faces of my classmates and teachers on the class blackboard with chalk and then erase them right before the teacher walked in.
I looked forward to summer vacations, when I would collect all the boxes, cards, papers, etc., and make crafty stuff. My dream came true when I was 14 or 15, when I finally painted my first canvas. It was Mickey Mouse, in oil paints - that was my first painting displayed in my home. Then came roses, of course. And then a landscape with autumn colours.
After opting for science in school, my heart still quietly held on to the dream of studying art in college. Thankfully, I failed all the medical entrance exams that I appeared in and got to study art. The three years in college were wonderful as I got to paint to my heart’s content with different mediums, but somehow the magic becomes weak once you make anything academic and define rules and deadlines.
I also had a dream to become independent and earn, and so art took a back seat entirely as I . But throughout that time when I was working, all I longed for was an artsy life that involved visiting exhibitions, wandering through museums, carrying a sketchbook everywhere I went. I wanted to travel for art, moving through different places, painting, meeting people and watching other artists work.
Then came the dream of filling my own home with my art and I would create one-off pinterest-inspired pieces. For a while, that satisfied me. My home looked like a jumble of various styles of work.
When I began visiting exhibitions, I would stand there, in awe of the work on the walls, but somewhere at the back of my mind, I imagined my own work hanging there one day. I always said to myself that I wish I could do this too.
I always dreamed of quitting my job and do something that was related to art. But as life turned its wheels, my 17+ years of corporate career placed a barrier between myself and my natural creative instincts. When I finally broke free and started my art journey, this “flow” of nature came back to me. I got reconnected with that part of me that craved for playful innocence and intuitive movement.
Then I dreamed of having a studio of my own. A space that held my mess, a space that I could call my own, where I can just be.
And then, quietly, another dream unfolded. My paintings finding homes not just in India, but across the world.
I never dreamed that I would ever talk about my art and I got an opportunity to stand on a TEDx stage and talk about my journey as an artist.
Then I dreamed of exhibiting my work, having a solo show. Traveling across the country, meeting people, exhibiting.
My dreams kept evolving at every stage of my journey. And maybe that’s the point.
I don’t quite know what the future holds, but I do know it keeps unfolding in ways I once only dared to imagine.
Thank you for taking the time to read about my life and art journey.
Anuja