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Wednesday, June 1, 2016

An interview with artist Nishanth Hiremath

I have published interviews with a few artists and craft-persons in my blog. While posting about artist Nishanth I'm feeling extremely happy and proud. Though we both studied in the same engineering college, I never knew about his interest towards arts.After fifteen years  , we met through social media, and I was amazed to see his works in watercolor ,which he shared on FB. I keep observing his works he shares, and notice the improvement.

 Though he is working in IT industry , which is known for its demanding time schedule, the interest and dedication he is showing towards arts reminds me the quote by the great scientist  Albert Einstein  :

"True art is characterized by the irresistible urge in the creative artist"  

 

Nishanth's works include watercolor paintings, cartoon, pencil sketching and zentangle. An artist is never satisfied with the learning. While interviewing I not only came to know about  his passion towards painting also real Karmayogi approach towards the passion .

 I cannot post all his works here, sharing a few which I liked the most.Rest you can view by visiting the links provided in this post. 

Thank you Nishanth for sharing about your journey in the world of art,

Please share about yourself with our readers(Background, education, family etc)
 
Nishanth : My Name is Nishant S Hiremath. I am native of Belgaum, Karnataka and currently residing in Bangalore, Karnataka since 1996. I have been working in IT industry and currently
 working for Nokia Networks. 
I have done Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and communication from KLE College of Engineering and Technology, affiliated to Dharwad, University.  I am extremely happily married and blessed with two beautiful and cute daughters.

Nishanth


Now tell us how did you make an entry into world of arts? Have you undergone any formal training in arts?

Nishanth:I don’t hold any degree in Arts and neither undergone any formal/organized training in art or related field. I have been teaching myself the art by observing works of others, reading books and experiment on my own. Till now, I have attended 2 days workshops with couple of renowned watercolor artists.

This hobby started in the summer of year 2012. While my family was away for summer vacations to our hometown, I had some free time. I thought, let me put this time for constructive use. I, googled for 
“How to find what you love to do” and came across an article
I spend around couple of undistracted hours trying out the method mentioned in the article and was very lucky to learn my interest for drawing/painting. Though I was bit surprised but it started to make some sense. Immediately I reached to a paper and pencil, did a quick portrait of one of a Bollywood movie star. The outcome was decent in next few days I kept on working on  few more rough portraits.  Since then, I started to take baby steps, first very small and infrequent ones, and of late little bigger and frequent ones on daily basis. Check out following Facebook post:





Watercolor

How does your family support you to pursue your hobbies? 

Nishanth: My family has been a big motivation and has been very supportive in pursuing my hobby. 

They are my first audience with whom I share my works and get instant feedback. Since they

are also equally interested in art, it has been easy for me to interact and involve them in my hobby. I feel fortunate and lucky to have them in my life.  

What are the sources for your paintings? 

Nishanth :I mostly paint from photos both hard and soft copies which I come across in newspaper and on internet. I use them as reference to paint but never forget to mention photo credit, if I happen to post them on Facebook. I mostly avoid replicating someone's  work as I think, it would be less of a challenge and very minimal learning. However, sometime I do try to replicate, just to get a feel of it. I have been looking to venture in plein air painting, however I get overwhelmed when I face nature and find it daunting task.
Watercolor

  I have seen most of your works shared on fb. Which are the mediums you tried? And which is the preferred medium and why?

Nishanth:I work only in watercolor medium and I enjoy pencil sketching. I have written a Facebook post -  
m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206801620253822&id=1075205135&set=a.10206033707376480.1073741827.1075205135 where in I have detailed my journey with watercolor painting, since I started to paint on almost daily basis.

Pencil sketching

Once you start painting have you ever come across artists’ block? If so how do you overcome that?

Nishanth :Yes, I believe it is part of the journey. I have created a support system in place wherein 
Faceboo is the pivotal point. I keep looking at others work and watch videos on youtube and keep 
reading  books on watercolors with an aim to keep myself constantly motivated and evolving.
Watercolor painting


When you are working ,time is the main constraint in the path of creativity. Even I have 
experienced that. Sometimes many creative ideas die because of time. Have you ever faced such 
situation? What are the other challenges you have faced/ facing in this journey of arts?

Nishanth :Over the years, I have made many changes in my life to eliminate/minimize things which hog time and add less/nil value. For e.g. Cable TV, whatsapp groups. This has helped me to devote more and time to the things I love and matter most. I believe, it is not just enough to spend time on an activity (For e.g. Painting) as we need to bring in changes in other areas of life, so that we can
spend quality time on the activity. For e.g. it is important to be physically and mentally healthy to be able to paint, otherwise our emotions and internal state start to show up in the outcome.

Since  I work in IT industry, my work schedule is very unforgiving and demanding. Sometimes, post  my work schedule i.e. at the end of the day, I would be stressed and left with no energy. To overcome this, every morning, I follow a routine, which helps me to be fit and maintain my energy levels at the end of the day, so that I spare time and spare quality time to my hobby. Over several 
years, www.zenhabits.net has been my biggest inspiration to create time tested good habits and I'm really grateful to Leo Babauta.

Among the paintings you have painted which is/are your favourites(s)? and the also share the reason for that.


Nishanth :Over the years, I have learnt one thing, we cannot predict or control an outcome of a painting.  Yes, we can put in efforts, possess required skill set, however there is no guarantee of 

the final outcome. So I have stopped been attached to the outcome and have been focusing only my effort.


Pencil sketching




Please share some advice to the aspiring artists, especially to those who are balancing between 
work and hobbies.


I don’t consider myself as a accomplished artist who is authorized to advice.  I can only share my experience. To nurture the interest it is very important to be able to  spend time on daily basis by creating the environment and putting together support system to place, to sustain the hobby.  I highly recommend to ready my Facebook post 

m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206801620253822&id=1075205135&set=a.10206033707376480.1073741827.1075205135 where in, I have shared my experiences on my artistic journey. Hope you find it helpful.


Cartoon


Zentangle



What are your future plans in the journey of arts? 


Nishanth:   I don't have any plans for my future art journey. It is clear to me that I would like to spend more and more time on this. To further enhance my watercolor painting skills, I have started to invest my time these days to build a strong foundation by doing pencil sketches.Though I have been carrying sketchbook wherever I go, due to my work \schedule,I  get  very few opportunities to sketch. At least I don’t have a  reason to say, I don’t have tools  to sketch. Carrying a sketchbook wherever I go is  helping me to squeeze few mins of sketching every now and then.

Apart from painting and sketching what are your other hobbies?


Nishanth:Running and Yoga/Stretching. If someone ask me if you retire today, how you spend your time? My  response would be Run, Yoga, Paint and repeat again and again.




Please share your contact details( FB/twitter/website/ contact number) where my interested 

readers can reach you.

I can be reached via following communication channels:
Mobile - +919731395395
 

All the best Nishanth. Though you are concentrating more  towards efforts, your approach and passion towards learning arts will definitely give you success. 

 Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,
-Ranjana





18 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this interview. I enjoyed seeing Nishanth's art and also hearing about his work/life balance. Do you happen to know, does the painting entitled 'watercolour' (water and trees) show Kochi? Just wondered.
    Kind Regards
    Jane ((UK)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many many thanks Jane !! If you are referring to the watercolor painting that is above, then the location is Kolhapur, Maharashtra state, India

      Delete
  2. Nice interview, Great to saw Nishant Hiremath works.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW So inspiring to read and hats off to your Ranjana in featuring such a talented person!

    Cheers
    Dr Sonia

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good going Nishant.Thanks for sharing the link to find how to find what u love to do.I m sure it is going to help everyone.All the best

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nishant indeed it very nice to see your interview. The words are yours for sure. I am sure this would definitely inspire a few in your immediate circle.

    Thanks to Ranjana who is doing such a unique job of identifying budding talent and shall keep visiting her blogs periodically to find of about any new finds !

    Nilesh Hiremath

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Nilesh da for constant support and encouragment !!

      Delete
  6. Lovely paintings and sketching by Nishant !! It is always good to have a hobby which lets you explore the creative part of life. I know how hectic IT job is as I have been there working for 10-13 hrs. a day with only few hrs on weekends, that too not always, to pursue my hobbies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Preeti :) With current pace of life, having a hobby is no more luxury but a necessity and makes life worth living :)

      Delete
  7. Nishanth, I am following you on Facebook for quite sometime now....I see you from moving strength to strength. Hats off to your passion. Keep moving. Wish you all the best.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you Rajashekar for the warm and kind words :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. wow .. Nice to see your art work .. After watching your first water color art, I said that this hidden talent of your's was never known to me .. You said let it be hidden only.. Thanks to Ranju in exposing you to the world of art lovers .. Keep up the great art work and would love to see you succeed in this industry too .. Good luck bro ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Prashant for kind and encouraging words !!!

      Delete
  10. Ranjana first of all thank you for featuring such talented people.

    Nishanth you are a very talented artist. It is very inspiring to read your interview. I know how difficult it is for a working person to nurture or pursue a hobby. I faced it when I was working.

    I like the way you have adjusted and found time for your creativity.

    All the best for your future. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete

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