We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meera Agarwal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Meera, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Embracing and accepting change from a very early age has made me resilient. Due to my father’s job, we moved a lot during my childhood. I had to adjust to a new place, a new school and make friends all over again every few years. That experience taught me to go with the flow. The moving trend continued through my undergraduate and early working years. I have also had the experience of changing gears and pivoting a couple of times in my career. Beginning again in a new place or country is like a crash course in life, its trials & tribulations. Resilience is the gift as a result.
More recently I have been dealing with a sudden onset of perimenopausal anxiety which completely toppled my confidence and made me doubt my capabilities like I never thought possible (for a previously fearless me). Here again I have had to get up, dust myself off and take charge of the healing process. Just figuring out the whys and hows of this biological change and corresponding course of action has taken me a couple of years. Painting & sharing my inner world on canvas, and volunteering in my community has been therapeutic.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a self-taught visual artist and art instructor based in Westchester county, New York. I previously worked in public relations in Silicon Valley but having painted all my life, when it was time to pivot to be a stay-at-home mother, I reignited my art practice. I primarily work with oil, acrylic and mixed media, and create both abstract as well as representational paintings. I also actively volunteer in my community, mainly at the Rye Arts Center, Jay Heritage Center and India Cultural Center. In recent years I have wet my feet with a couple of public art installations as well.
What’s very special and exciting about what I do is that my art offers a medium or a visual language for people to pause, reflect, get inspired or find their own narratives within the layers of each piece. It’s very exciting to create something tangible that’s a lasting memory for people. Another exciting aspect is that I have had the opportunity to challenge myself with activities like plein air painting, public art installations, make mini paintings for art vending machines (for Art-o-mat®) and so on.
I used to teach painting in after-school programs for many years and also volunteered my time to teach in an enrichment program for underserved teens. More recently, I have been conducting painting workshops for kids and adults alike.
I am always excited to teach as I usually come across children or people who feel they don’t have a flair for painting or have never painted before. Seeing them leave a class feeling confident and extremely happy with what they have accomplished brings me so much joy and a sense of fulfillment I cannot put in words. Working with children is special because they always bring a fresh, pure perspective which makes me think out of the box too.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Dare Greatly. In the words of author Brené Brown, dare greatly. When I started out, because I have no formal art training, I had to put myself out there courageously. I kept submitting my paintings to juried shows in the tri-state area and did not back down despite tons of rejections. The courage & determination eventually paid off.
2) Don’t follow trends, follow your heart. Since I do a little bit of everything, sometimes people find it hard to categorize my work. I personally feel that being true to one’s style and aesthetic is important. Life is too short to be boxed in. As an artist, to be able to act on your ideas and imagination without boundaries is liberating. When galleries suggest I adopt just one style, I always use the analogy of performance artists and how their versatility is seen as a strength.
3) Be involved in your community. Being an artist can be isolating. I highly recommend community involvement (in the arts if possible) as much as your schedule accommodates. Personally, being involved actively in my community has been fulfilling, uplifting and inspiring.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
1) Inner Engineering (A Yogi’s Guide to Joy) by Sadhguru. The wisdom in this book is based on ancient yogic sciences and is a guide to the art of living. In a nutshell, it’s about maintaining inner balance that will naturally bring about balance in other areas of life.
2) Braving Creativity by Naomi Vladeck is a collection of stories about real artists who have faced many grave situations/tragedies and how they emerge courageously to lead a creative life. A great reminder that we are not alone and gives us the much-needed courage to carry on against all odds.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.meeraworldart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meeraworldart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meeraworldart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meera-agarwal-8ba942192/