this is still one of my favourite paintings

This little watercolour was painted a few years ago on lovely handmade cotton rag from Khadi Papers with a beautiful deckled edge. Inspired by homemade Indian pickles, it's still one of my favourite pieces and the original is still with me! I can't let it go. It is available as prints, though, and is one...

summer fruits illustration in progress

It's the first time I've managed to sit down and draw thanks to being in bed with gout all weekend. Summer berries – to bring in an whiff of the warmest season even though it's raining loads as per usual in England. The base of this piece was done with markers, an unusual medium for...

spring art fair at the landmark arts centre

I've spent the last few weeks prepping for my first in-person show since before the pandemic. It took a lot of late nights, but resulted in a rather nice (I think!) and full stand. My hair in this photo 🤦🏽‍♀️🙂 it looks like a I'm a mad artist, right?! The show didn't go very well...

cats seem to be on my mind lately

Everyone who knows me would unanimously agree that I, Arati, am a dog person. I don't by any means hate cats at all, I just prefer dogs! But, lately, I have been painting rather a lot of cats... Mostly influenced, I have go admit, by my sister's rescue cat, a lovely lad. This latest piece...

my art in your home brings so much joy!

A lovely person sent me this picture of my original paintings in their kitchen in Canada! I'm so excited to receive it, because it's not often that I see my work in customers' homes. A view of my original art in their kitchen. It really makes me so very happy to see their love for...

the highs and lows of making art

These three pictures represent a few highs and lows over the years. Sometimes pieces you make work and sometimes they don't. First is my Spring Ladybirds teatowel, an underperforming favourite for ... I really love the quirkiness and freshness of it, but it's really not done too well at all in terms of popular opinion....

the most interesting part of my process is INVISIBLE

It's the bit that takes place inside my own head that is the most detailed, convoluted, interesting part of the way in which I make art. A stream of consciousness type of feeling, that can last minutes, hours, days, months and even years, before spilling out in the form of a finished piece of art....

how do I relax?

Relaxation is a strange thing in my world. My job is also my leisure activity and they both overlap so much, sometimes I don't know where one ends and the other begins. What do you do to relax? Comment and let's discuss it. I take classes, usually something which is in my field of interest,...

spooky cat silhouette paintings

Here's how I paint my cats. I draw a little half circle and add the pointy ears. Then I paint straight down for the front of the body, with one cheeky little paw out, and then a gentle curve for the back following on into a tail. How I paint a cat silhouette I then...

5 lessons a 30 day art challenge taught me

This week's video is all about sharing my gouache painting process videos for the first ten prompts of the 30 day challenge that I just finished while talking about the five lessons I learned from doing this challenge. You can also watch on and subscribe to my YouTube channel. There are subtitles available, and the...