The Artist

“An artist is someone who dares to live their dreams”

I still can't put my finger on when it all started. Today when my friends see my work, they say “You have come a long way from college days.” I do agree with what they say. But let me be clear, it is not my work or creations that I am proud of, I am proud of what I am today. Free, spirited and brave. My work is only a reflection of who I really am.

At the age of 20 I joined the College of Fine Arts in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. To me at that age, due to the financial set up I came from, it was important to have a job as soon as I got out of college. I was not inclined to traditional art since I knew it could not fetch much money or stability. So I opted for applied arts, (commercial arts) so I could become a graphic designer and work for ad agencies and design studios. Enthusiastic and ambitious like many young people. The very 2nd week after college I joined an ad agency, from then on till 2014 I worked relentlessly just to make money and reach heights. It was my dream to become a creative director of a company, big or small so I can stop cutting images in Photoshop and could work on my terms, to be exact. In 4 years I made it.

Professionally I attained it all, but still I was unhappy, That's when realisation hits. I was chasing all the wrong things all this while. I realised I was a puppet programmed by the world, thinking and living in a certain way. I understood at heart I wanted something very different. It came to me slowly, but it came with a giant jolt. What I really craved for most, was to be free as a wind, to stop worrying about the uncertainty of the future, to stop running with the pace of time, to be able to live every moment to its fullest, to be accepted, loved and understood for who I really am.

Well now that sounds crazy to many. Can one actually be free? Are all these thing even possible? I wasn't sure myself but I knew it meant following one's own heart. It meant leaving behind all that I knew all this while. The way of living, the comforts and luxury that money can fetch, society, family, all of it.

If so, If I manage to do so, every step from then on means to face reality, facing all my fears, hardship and hurting many dear and near I knew with my ways of life. But that was the cost I was willing to pay to be free.

When reality knocks on our doors and we pretend not to be blind there is no going back. This is it, the real world, The real you. I sat and wrote down the many things that I needed to change. And started working on it one by one.

1. I will set myself free from all known bondage's- religious, social, physical & mental

2. I will not design for others anymore and find a job that I really love.

3. I wanted to live for my happiness no matter how hard

4. I will surround myself with people who care and could deal with my reality

5. I will stop worrying about future

6. Money cannot buy me health or happiness, but it can buy material comforts

7. I need a job to make ends meet

8. Forgive, love oneself and love all

9. Never let the child in me die

The pressure was so high and just a handful of people to support my actions, I put all the savings in fixed deposits and set out to live with the minimum amount of money available.

The one thing that I always did for myself during all these years was sculpting. I made gifts for all my friends instead of buying them. One among the things that made me happy. I started with one happiness at a time. The next thing I loved most was nature. I took up an affordable place facing a garden, green and pretty. My mind was at rest. Stopped rushing with time. Let things take its course. Took care of myself and worked on better mental and physical health. Surrounded myself with actual true friends. My little cousin brother who had also let go of his job to follow his passion in music joined me. So now it was two of us on the same path. This was one thing that made life so much easier. Tough financial situations but very happy. Days after days without a job or direction on what to do, it can be haunting. We both sat around doing nothing. 6 months of plain thinking and practicing our art. He did his music and I sculpted. He started taking music lessons. Slowly I decided to teach sculpting at home. That is where a new profession took shape.

I set up Moonware Creative Expressions. I set aside my living room as my work space. Art & craft was what I always did. So slowly I started to brush up all my skills. Started to draw, paint, sculpt. Took in very few students. Only one student at a time. Rest of the time I worked on my skills. I myself did not know how much I knew. Once in a while I would take up commercial jobs that fit my work style. That was it. As time went by more and more students enrolled.

When we decide to change our life there is no stopping us. When we throw fear out of our life, there is more light out there than we think. And when we have the courage to face our self and our real dreams, we will live life to its fullest. To me that is the art of living and we are all artists if we dare to live it.