Eternal Spring

A prolific artist with an attitude towards life that is both motivating and endearing, Shan Re from Bangalore has an interesting talk with Nidhi Chawla over a cup of coffee.

Inspiration knows no bounds and can come from anyone of any age. You can’t define Shan Re by age. The best way to describe her is as the prolific artist that she is and her positive attitude towards life that is both endearing and motivating.

A counsellor by profession at a rehab clinic in US for many years, Shan decided to take a leap in 2000 at her husband’s behest and took up her childhood dream of becoming an artist. Fourteen years on, this self-taught artist has made a mark for herself in the art world and is considered one of the accomplished talents around. She has held many solo and group exhibitions in India and US, her most recent being the private viewing of her Eternal Spring series at Ritz Carlton, Bangalore. Eternal Spring is the name of Shan Re’s ongoing art series that is inspired by miracles of nature and highlights the sense of rebirth, renewal, opportunity, hope and transformation.

“Painting is the path of my life and has been very therapeutic as it has helped me bounce back from many personal and professional setbacks,” says Shan talking about her artistic journey. “My paintings evoke a sense of peace and delight as they are emotive eruptions of me. My works are all about memories and fantasies that I express through colours.” 

Such is the dynamism of her creative process that she does all her paintings without any reference point and preliminary sketching. Spontaneity is the crux of her paintings whereby she lets her paintings resonate her inner emotions. “I never know what my paintings will look like and this mystery is very stimulating and keeps my curiosity heightened. To me life is an empty canvas and I have irresistible desire to make it colourful”. 

Was it a smooth ride for her, we wonder. 

“Not at all! Survival is difficult. Patience and perseverance is the key. When I held my first show in Bangalore in 2007, the same year I moved here, there was limited audience. But on the merit of my work, the three day show at Alliance Francaise was successful in spite of no contacts and no support from art galleries.” “I never gave up and today all art galleries support me,” adds on the passionate artist.

“I think challenges are what make life interesting. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow. I tuned my mind away from complex and ever shifting thoughts and emotions and tuned my personal pain into artistic creation. As I wove through life I spontaneously realized that with sheer persistence in the face of emotional adversity is also probably a key component to my creativity”. 

Sharing her tips for aspiring artists Shan says: 

* Have realistic expectations. 

* Do lots of homework and have the intelligence to know your potential. 

* Develop contacts and pursue the journey 

* Talent + Passion = Success 

But ultimately luck and destiny have a role to play too.

Shan Re also conducts Art Therapy workshops with a mission to help people find respite from the daily stresses. She makes people work with various mediums like moulding clay, crayons, pastels and water colours and encourages them to express their inner feelings. Her art therapy sessions use art as a medium for healing, by channelizing the creative energies to transform pain into artistic expression. “People usually confide in me when they are going through a rough patch,” says Shan explaining her motivation to start Art Therapy workshops. “I wanted to combine my past experience as a counsellor and my present profession of an artist to explore the subject of Art Therapy”. Today, Shan conducts many corporate and private workshops helping people deal with their personal traumas and stresses. 

Sharing some more words of wisdom Shan says, “I personally believe that youth is not a time of life. It is the state of mind. Nobody grows old by living number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years do not wrinkle their soul, but worry, self-doubt, self-distrust and fear do”.

As we come to the end of our conversation, she leaves us with these inspiring words –

We are as old as our doubt

As young as our faith

As old as our fear

As young as our self-confidence

As old as our despair

As young as our hope

You can view Shan Re’s work at her official website www.shanre.in