Born in India, Sangeetha relocated to the United States in 1999 and began a career in Information Technology.  At that time, art was only a hobby as her focus was on her family, but three years later, she decided to devote her time and energy to art on a full-time basis. 

 While she has an appreciation for all forms of media, including acrylic, impasto and watercolors, she mainly works in oil and soft pastels. Through self study and experimentation, she acquired sufficient expertise in soft pastels to be juried into the Pastel Society of America (PSA).  This was a noteworthy achievement given the PSA’s rigorous selection process and that Sangeetha had learned  to use soft pastel on her own, without attending any classes. The magnificent painting “The Wave” is one of five painting she submitted to the PSA for certification and it reveals her love of nature.

Sangeetha is also a talented oil and acrylic  painter. Below are samples  of her oil painting on the left and an acrylic painting on the right.  The painting on the left is already sold.

Sangeetha has also been exploring traditional Indian art known as Tanjore and Cheriyal.   With the help of a Master artist in India with whom she worked some six years ago, Sangeetha  has produced two outstanding paintings pictured here.  The Tanjore on the left below is made with 24 karat goldleaf; the Cheryal on the right  is made on cloth with gum arabic and  Tamarind paste. Because most of the materials for these paintings  including  the pigments are only found in India, Sangeetha can only replicate them in oil.  Sangeeta is also interested to learn Kalamkari which is another Indian painting on cloth which is very elaborate and done with a bamboo pen and natural pigments.

Sangeetha has successfully exhibited her art in several juried shows including Claim to Fame at Gallery Underground in Arlington and Capital Arts and Crafts Festival.   In addition she  has displayed  her art in  shows in Middleburg, Purcellville, and at other neighboring venues where she has won awards.  She also has completed  a commission in watercolors.

At this state of her career, after going in a variety of directions, Sangeetha is trying to decide where to go next—not an unfamiliar story of an accomplished artist. She told me she has  worked intuitively, often passing hours unaware of time and fully engaged.   One thing for sure is that she plans to develop her expertise in soft pastels and has joined a PSA workshop  in color and composition.  The workshop is given by a Master Pastelist, Maceo Mitchell.   According to Sangeetha, he is a great mentor and  loves what she is doing and she feels validated after having had doubts about what she had learned intuitively. Her goal is to gain signature status at PSA and no doubt, she will achieve that and much more in the coming years!