Aryasomayajula Geeta
I started drawing when I could hold a pencil.
I could happily gaze for hours at eyes, faces, leaves and trees. Onlookers called it staring—for reasons I still do not understand. Then I drew them endlessly. I used to draw a lot of eyes. Usually on notebook covers, which perplexed my teachers and they would leave their own little marks on the drawings I couldn’t seem to stop drawing. Little red question marks. Unfazed, at the age of 4, I still kept drawing. As I grew older and realized my parents could not keep changing the notebook covers every four days, I discovered a different kind of canvas. Wooden doors, walls painted with white cement. My “paint” was a glass of water. My brush was usually a stick, and if I couldn’t find one, I would paint with my fingers. And keep painting. Watching as the water dried off of the wall or door, leaving me with a fresh blank ready canvas. And yes, much later, I ended up drawing eyes when I appeared to be scribbling notes during corporate meetings.
I am still utterly fascinated by relationships.
Relationships.
Like the way light shines through leaves and trees on an ordinary wall on an ordinary evening and it suddenly feels like the silver screen came alive on the wall with a mesmerizing black and white silent movie playing for one transfixed gazer.
Years later, the photograph I took that night had survived several phone changes and life changes. Until one day, it came alive on a canvas board. A window.
There are places and people. Some met. Some unmet.
Within us.
Sometimes I meet a place.
Sometimes, it isn’t a place at all.
Maybe it is a feeling.
Or maybe…
A feeling becomes form so I can meet it.
A place meets me as it is. I meet it as I am.
And in that meeting… something changes.
Professionally, many people still know me as Geeta Arya. I'm just letting people get used to my full name. I'm an artist (stating the obvious). A word rambler (as you may have surmised if you've stayed with me this far). An ex-Engineer. A professional fine arts mentor since 1998.
Among other things.
If one of my paintings found you, I'd love to hear from you.