Today we’d like to introduce you to Lovleen Aulakh
Hi Lovleen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Art comes very naturally to me… it always has! But it has been a lifelong struggle to find dedicated time and space for art to flow through me. Social distancing during the 2020 pandemic became a blessing in disguise for me as I got uninterrupted time to create art and develop a meditative art practice. I painted my first art series – ‘Five Elements’ and when I shared it on social media, I was surprised by the incredible response from family, friends and acquaintances. There were tons of comments and messages telling me how my art resonated with them and I even landed my first big commission! Dedicating my life to art felt like a very natural next step. It took me another two years to officially become a full time professional artist. Now I run “Inspired Art studio” from my home base in northwest Austin where I experiment with new mediums, materials and techniques for my mixed media art and help students of all ages discover their inner artist.
I lived in Delhi, India for almost half my life before moving to Austin, TX. I studied architecture at one of India’s most prestigious architecture schools, worked with some of the best minds in sustainable design, became director at a construction company and completed my masters in regenerative design. Only for me to later leave it all to live the life of an artist. In hindsight I can now see how following my inner guidance led me to this path, but on the surface the reality felt very turbid.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wish… honestly as an artist, self-doubt has been one of my biggest internal struggles.
“What am I doing?”
I ask myself almost everyday… and tell myself, I am trying to create a beautiful, meaningful, inspired life… so art can flow through me.
After my first series, I realized I have a vision for the art I want to create, but not the skill set. I spent the entire 2021 trying to hone my technical skills and went on a quest to discover my unique artistic style – exploring different art mediums/ techniques and mixing them in unusual ways. During this time I created some of my bestsellers – ‘White Lotus’ & ‘Ekas’. I have always been a self taught artist – when I was growing up art classes were too expensive or too far away. So when I started getting requests to teach art, I found myself becoming the art teacher/mentor I never had. I started art exploration classes in my garage studio which really took off, but it considerably reduced the time I had to create my own art. Finding the right balance was another struggle which I eventually resolved by conducting only Sunday Studio classes.
Now that I had a body of work, my next struggle started. As an upcoming artist, testing the waters – I have to face heartbreaking rejections and learn how to get myself back together, stay true to myself and channel all my emotions in improving my art. I had realized I had to create a space and audience for my type of art instead of molding my art to fit others expectations. I am a researcher at heart so I delved deep to learn how I can create my own opportunities. I listened to webinars, podcasts, read blogs, followed other artists on Instagram and tried to learn everything I could about running an art business before leaving my job in 2021 and devote time for my artistic endeavors. Luckily I have the best husband who is my biggest supporter and a wonderful daughter who is my best advisor. Now my ongoing struggle is managing the creative & business aspect of being an artist and finding the right balance.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I create unique mixed media paintings using textures, inks, acrylics, silver/gold leaf gilding, mirror work etc. I try my best to contemplate life and express it through my art, so my themes range from abstract to spiritual.
In 2022, I released ‘Fakeeri’ a collection of figurative spiritual paintings inspired by sufi dervishes that explores the connection of ‘light within us’ with the one divine light. Followed by a series of textured peacock paintings titled ‘Graceful Surrender’ in 2023 which I exhibited at Mayfield park in presence of real peacocks. 2024 took a different turn as I was invited to create the theme painting for ‘Gaavani’, an organization that promotes female kirtaniyas (singers trained to sing sikh hymns in raags). I got to travel to Dallas and New Jersey to display my artwork at various Gurdwaras (Sikh temples). This year I really want to give an ode to Austin and release my ongoing series on Pennybacker bridge.
I have been working very hard to sow the seeds to find the right audience for the type of contemplative art I am inspired to create and I can see they have started bearing fruits with opportunities knocking at my door now.
I always wanted to give back to my community in some way and now I can do it through my art – donating paintings for auctions at charity events & school fundraisings; giving proceeds from my painting sales to nonprofits, promoting other new upcoming artists, teaching/ mentoring kids and adults. I am fortunate to connect with so many wonderful artists and art enthusiasts on this journey. I am curious to find out what comes next.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
The biggest risk I took was to leave my job and pursue art full-time. My boss kept calling me for months to join back, but I could either work for his dream or live for mine. I dedicated the first half of 2022 creating a cohesive art series – ‘Fakeeri – light within’ and the second half hosting my own inaugural art show, art booth, open studio and participating in my first Austin Studio Tour. I applied everything I had learnt in my professional career from branding, marketing, graphic design, social media to event planning, R&D, and networking. I even got invites printed and went door to door in my neighborhood to request them to come check my art. I was driven and it felt like my whole life had prepared me for this moment. What I was not prepared for was the overwhelming love & support of my family, friends, students, neighbors and community that came together to give me a big head start as an artist.
After my first art show I made sales, I got commissions, I got gallery representation, and I got busy. Way too busy!
“What am I doing?”
I asked myself yet again, this is not the peaceful life of an artist I had envisioned for myself. So I took another risk and slowly started setting my own pace as an artist so that art can flow through me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lovleenart.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lovleen_inspired_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredArtAustin/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lovleen-aulakh/
