Painting for peace

Purva left her career as an advertisement executive at the peak of her career to pursue painting.

An advertisement executive at the peak of her career decides to give it up all for pursuing her passion for painting. Did you just mutter insane? Well, the situation isn’t hypothetical. Purva, after seven years in the ad world, gave up a plush job at McCann Eriksson and decided to take something of a sabbatical in Pushkar. That’s where she realised that painting was what she wanted to do. And two years later, this self-taught artist is at peace with herself and also a known name in the art circuit.

Her exhibition, The World I View, just got over and she is now planning to take the works to Mumbai and Bangalore and “as many other places as possible”. “All of us, in the rut of things, forget how to enjoy simple things in life. When I was working, I would try and do meditation, go for Art of Living courses, but I have found true satisfaction only now,” says she. “Yes, I was getting a cheque at the end of every month, but I have more conviction in my life now,” she adds.

So how easy is it for an outsider to find and create place in the art world? “If you have the potential then your seniors always support you. I haven’t had any difficulties at all. I share good relations with my seniors and have received all their support,” she says. “I didn’t leave advertising as a loser. But I am a stronger individual today. And I work very strictly. My studio is at home so it’s very easy to let yourself easy. I am in the studio for about seven hours every day and I treat my hours as office hours. I work at fixed hours,” she tells us. Well, some habits die hard!

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