Universe Calls

Landscape by Ritu

Keeping my light aglow

In the darkness

My fingers dance

Immersed in true beauty

Through me it flows

Traversing boundaries

I am given a chance here

To create His magic

I become a medium for life to grow...

I close my eyes for a few minutes. I can see a flash of memories lying somewhere in a corner. A corner that is safe in its glorious light even today -for these memories are a treasure beyond the physical existence. They are histories that cannot be wiped out neither by the beautiful present nor the bright future.

Eternal and timeless.

As far as my conscious mind takes me, I recall a period of my life in closest association with art around 12 years ago. Those approximately four to five years of curating group and solo art shows are etched as some of my most beautiful learnings in the field of art. Having experienced art from a close view, I was enamoured each time I met some young and upcoming artists of our country, India. Writing forwards and creating brochures for my art shows was immensely gratifying.

Seven shows in four years! Was indeed a personal accomplishment. Working with Art Square was an enriching experience too. As an emerging art curator, I couldn’t have asked for more.

Launching new faces in the visual art industry during this phase paved my way in the world of art. I also organised art classes and spent a significant amount of time in understanding the genesis of each painting displayed under spotlights through the eyes of the artists. Every piece was intriguing and brought me closer to the plethora of hidden talents.

Although somewhere in this background I never attempted to paint on a canvas or splash colours on paper. I believed that as an art curator I didn't necessarily have to be a painter/artist. These were two different spheres of creativity even though they belonged to the same field. It was one thing to put a show together and an entirely different thing to create something on a canvas!

Undoubtedly demanding two different skill sets. And perhaps I lacked in the latter!

Come 2020 - On one hand it threw me into a space where I encountered the frivolousness of life. The other hand it revealed its powerful existence. An existence that was embedded in the moments around a life threatening condition- Cancer.

I had to make a choice in letting go off the unpleasant past in order to make way for pleasant memories. There was only one way and that was the path of forgiveness. Letting go isn't effortless but forgiving is easy. I decided to come to terms with it while shifting my focus on the better memories. When this happened life began to spring in abundance around me.

I had only heard and read about stories of transformation. How some people changed especially after a prolonged medically challenging situation. Least did I know that the gifts of plentitude would fall in my lap and I would wake up one day to its reality and experience it through art!

A depiction of Shivling by Ritu

When I look back at the years gone by, my heart fills with immense gratitude. Every moment is a blessing to be counted. When I attempt to solve the mysterious ways of life I am overwhelmed by its existence in all elements of the universe. And it invariably prepares you for something that is predestined.

I believe when it (life) takes away some part of you it certainly gives back in a multitude ways. We got to look for the signs. It is mystical in nature. One that we cannot explain through words. The magic is merely experiential.

Painting is solely a peek into the enormous possibilities of human creativity. I realised how my mind got attracted to the different hues and enchanting calls from within. Born a left handed person, underwent a surgery on my left breast. Removal of lymph nodes weakens the side. Sure it affected mine too. But Art helped me bring it back to normal. Painting filled my empty spaces and the wounds remarkably with the transcendental healing energies. It seems like a gust of positive energy has entered my body and my mind has moved into a direction that it had never experienced before.

Impression Garden of Flowers by Ritu

It was indeed magic of art that started exuding from all layers between my consciousness to the hidden subconscious and perhaps unconscious states. The strokes on the canvas started to reflect fragments of me and my inner peace. It unravelled parts of me that were perhaps lying dormant all these years.

Every art piece is a reflection of who you are, what attracts you, what inspires you. It begins with a detailed observation of life floating around you or you sailing in its various forms. A mind in rhythm gravitated to catalyse the variety of life- thoughts being the primary expressions. My biggest inspiration comes from the abundant Universe and its beautiful enchanting ways.

Nature by Ritu

Pablo Picasso said once that,

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of every day life".

Indeed my conversance with art brings healing in my life. It has simultaneously resulted in alleviation of both my physical and emotional states. I am astonished at my capabilities to unwind through art. There is a tremendous joy in embarking upon this new journey of self-expression. The touch and smoothness of colours, mixing them together, fascinated by the outcomes, blending them further lifts my spirits. Every stroke of brush has been an invigorating experience. Each time my hands move to pick the painting brushes it seems like am being driven by a divine force that guides me to unite with its presence. A presence that embellishes my existence. A presence that heals and shields me too.

An empty canvas is like the dawn time when skies are serene, absorbed in the stillness of time and space - soaked in purity. One can feel the divine nectar showering on us. We are bestowed to create - our senses discerning the head and heart's voice. I am guided by the light within. This light often ignites the mystic in me. And my mind transcends beyond the boundaries of the taught and conditioning. That's what art to me is.

Experimenting with water colours to oil pastels, colour pencils and finally embarking on acrylics has been a progressive journey with the artist in me- reborn. As an amateur I revel in the presence of this new self everyday. With His benevolence I experience the universe with my senses converging- I become the universe. My paintings are occurrences of His mercy on me. I bask in the glow.

Abstract Art by Ritu

The joy of painting is comparable to none other emotion. It is synonymous to the Supreme.

My left arm and hand that once posed a challenge for me, has become my strength today. I am blended in the rainbow of life. More frequently than ever before I now listen to calls from the Universe and translate it on the bare canvasses - embracing the new day sprinkling some colours of my choice!

Ritu Schimer Dhingra.

A Consulting Psychologist, Life Coach, a Career Counsellor and an emerging Artist.