She says, “For me, art is about bringing in positivity; when you look at art, it should bring you happiness. You are going to see it every day, so it should bring positive energy and vibrance. I like using a variety of media.”
Talking about how her artistic journey started, she reveals that she was formally trained in Art, “I completed my Fine Arts Degree at Stella Maris College and have undertaken many other courses, including interior design. I do interiors, art, and art-as-interiors… meaning I work on furniture such as chest-of-drawers, tables, cupboards and so on.
“On completing college, I started painting on t-shirts. I used to sell a lot of cute things, then I went on to tie-and-dye. This was followed by a phase of painting on pots, where I worked with some potters from Madurai and designed my own pots. Later, I was painting on glass and then furniture after getting carpenters to custom-make them.
“Initially, there was a phase of happy young ladies in vibrant colours almost cartoonish, later I drew influence from Seneka, rainforest conservation and bringing positive energy. I always wanted to do water colours and did an intensive course on it from an artist in Canada. Right now, I am in love with water colours. For these realistic water colours, where I make my own composition, I like to go on the streets or in the garden, wherever I take my photos, and then I compose them on paper.
“You have to work in reverse with water colours though. In oil, you put the dark colours first and then lighten it. You have to work in layers but it’s easier with water colours. You will find a lot of landscapes, buildings, flowers and nature in my work.”
How does her creative process take root? She laughs, “A lot of procrastination happens. The idea keeps working in my mind, sketching and re-sketching happens. Then, I finally stretch my paper and the painting starts flowing easily. I like introducing some element of fun and quirkiness and that’s my signature, so even if it’s a regular table, why not paint it a bright colour or create a painting on top of it. I am lucky that most of my clients give me a free hand and have left things to me.”
AI is currently the buzz and the fear is that it could kill creativity. She says,”I don’t find AI threatening at all. There will always be people who want art drawn by humans. You will know at some point that it’s AI. In fact, I am looking at classes to co-create and how I can incorporate them into my work.”
Quizzing her on her family, she reveals, “My mother, Meena is AV Meiyappa Chettiar’s daughter. All my uncles ran AVM Studios. My mother, brother, and dad are into post-production. Qube Cinemas and Real Image belong to Senthil Kumar, my brother. I have little memory of my grandfather… he died when I was 10. My dad Arun Veerappan was an artist, but he passed away last year.
I have fond memories of my grandfather and remember the happy times when we used to come to see him. Our cousins’ group was large, around 25 of us. He had a pet name for all of us. He used to call me Kathrikai, as I was short. It was fun because there were so many cousins and they are your best friends in the beginning.
“My dad has influenced me and both my brothers are IIT and REC types. I recall, I was pretty bad at Math and they would be winning Gold medals. I was a very different child. My mum never bothered too much about academics. The family was very hard-working and business-minded but very creative.”
“I was a Bharatanatyam dancer for 15 years and have performed across India. Post marriage, I started working on interior design along with my husband Rajesh. Initially, I used to do a lot of offices, but now I work on more homes.
“I did up a house in Kodaikanal like an English country house with wooden rafters, wallpaper, old style wall murals and English colours like rose and sap green. Now, I am working in a French style with very light colours, elegant and understated. I love to cook and cook almost every day. I want to write a cookbook with art,”she signs off.