Today we’d like to introduce you to Kajal Zaveri.
Hi Kajal, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I am a full-time artist based for many years in San Francisco Bay area and now very recently working out of New York City. I was not always a full-time artist, and throughout my early life, I pursued the path of academics, pursuing art as a hobby. Growing up in India, I was always surrounded by vibrancy, colors, traditions, and celebrations… I did not get formal art school training, but enrolling in a local hobby art class and inspiration all around me was enough to ignite my love for painting. After I moved to California for my MBA, I worked in the corporate sector for a few years but kept getting drawn to art and wanting to visually translate the magnificence and beauty of California, its unending horizons and shorelines, it breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, the brilliance of the deep blue ocean and, and many such encounters that filled me with a great sense of joy and excitement to visually journal on canvas, all that I saw and sensed around me. I decided to quit my corporate job and focused my time, effort, and energy on pursuing art as a full-time career. I am so thankful for that decision since I have enjoyed every day of my life being an artist and experiencing joy, calmness, anchoring, purpose, and equilibrium in my life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I have worked very hard and have been very blessed to have my work well received and sold on various luxury e-commerce sites like Williams Sonoma Home and One Kings Lane, featured on Times Square Billboards, and featured in luxury magazines like Elle Décor and Popsugar.com, etc. and exhibit and sell at major Art Fairs like Art Market San Francisco and Spectrum, Miami and Red Dot, Miami. However, it has not been easy. My journey has involved struggles, challenges, and processes that are unique to me. It has taken many years of pursuit, time, effort, and constant exploration to find my own artistic voice and identity. Also, the iterative nature and effort needed in the endeavor of the creative process is sometimes undervalued and under-appreciated by many in the non-creative fields. Getting commercial success is another very real challenge that has again taken a lot of effort to overcome. However, I wouldn’t have it any other way, and now, my art career gives me the freedom to express myself in my own distinct voice and allows me to connect to people who appreciate me for my point of view.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a full-time artist based out of San Francisco and very recently, New York, working on a mix of abstract and semi-abstract portrayals of nature in rich, lush colors. I mainly work with oil paints, and my landscapes are free-flowing, expressive, and lyrical and fall in the realm of Abstract Realism. The aesthetics and the sensation of a fleeting moment, carefully collected impressions, or vivid memories of various places and encounters is what I try to journal and visually translate onto canvas. Since the viewer doesn’t know of my point of inspiration, it is my hope that when they view my work, it ignites their own fond memories of special places and times and entice nostalgia and dreaminess and a sense of commonness and shared experiences. I feel very privileged and humbled when my art speaks to and resonates with my collectors, and they allow my work to be a part of their lives and homes. I feel so blessed to bring some joy and color through my profession, and am so thankful for getting to do this on a daily basis. I am most proud of using my art and related skills to mentor the next generation of artists through my volunteering efforts in teaching art sessions to kids of all abilities and seeing them blossom, and now through classes for the budding young artists, to share the love and power of art and creativity. I hope that I can pass on my love and belief in the strength of art to the next generation of artists in my own small way.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I believe many factors need to come together for an artist to be successful. For me personally, I think that my passion gave me the courage to quit my comfortable, steady job and pursue my true calling to be a full-time artist. I am motivated and driven and always willing to learn and evolve to keep my body of work growing and fresh within the genre that I work in. There are times when it is hard to find inspiration, and things don’t fall into place, and that time, I remind myself to keep going and trying till I feel rejuvenated again and the work starts becoming lyrical and spontaneous again. I am open to growing, learning, and testing myself as an artist. I am also very blessed to have a strong support system around me. My parents inculcated strong work ethics and a can-do attitude in me and gave me the freedom to fly. I am very lucky to have the same support from my husband who has been my best friend and loudest cheerleader in my journey as an artist. All of this is enough for me stay motivated and work hard, and give it my very best.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kajalzaveri.art
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artist.kajalzaveri/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KajalZaveriArt
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/kajalzaveri/
Image Credits
Sandip Parekh
