about the works of Plano-based artist
"Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music”. - Nietzsche
Every painting begins chaotically, the marks appear random and I always wonder where it will end up. It takes time and tumult for a vision to manifest itself. The painting evolves as I move along with some innate faith and more often than not, the chaos paves the way for some form of identifiable order. Patterns appear, color and light create forms that are pleasing. Art for me is just that - a sense of doing and painting until I reach harmony.
Shikha Bajaj is an artist based out of Plano, TX. She trained in India as a Fashion designer at the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. After working for a few years in the field of fashion, she took a break to raise her two children. She got the opportunity to go back to school and work with a number of accomplished international professional artists in the Dallas Metroplex.
Shikha has dabbled with multiple media over the years. In acrylic paintings, her work has moved between abstract and non-objective. She stresses on the balanced composition of color and form to communicate her ideas. Themes such as nature and the spiritual are consistent undercurrents in her works, although the casual observer will be hard pressed to see any recognizable symbols. Another consistent aspect of her work is the use of multiple canvases to tell a continuing story. Several works, such as Elements, require the four canvases to be seen together to understand the meaning of the various transitions, and how the contrast is created between different forms and colors. She has created large scale abstract artworks in acrylic media.
Over the last few years, she has rediscovered landscape and still life painting, favoring watercolor and oil media for her more realistic pieces. The immediacy, decisiveness and spontaneity of watercolors is alluring and challenging while the permanence and old world charm of oil media is equally enticing.
Shikha is an enthusiastic member of the Plano Art Association. Her work can be seen on exhibition at various Plano public libraries, and the Plano Art Association spaces. She runs the Crimson palette art school for kids and adults. She judges for the Reflections art competitions at Plano ISD and Frisco ISD.
Write to her at shikha.mail@gmail.com
THE GURUS
I worked extensively with the late Norma Dorfer, who reintroduced me to the joy of acrylic painting and the complexity of abstraction in paintings. Norma taught me how to see the world devoid of distractions. She trained me to look at something and extract the essence and then to portray it on a 2D surface. In her studio, one day we would make collages and then the next day, we would paint fire. There was never a dull moment. Her enthusiasm was infectious and her passion and devotion to her art inimitable.
Lou Ann Bower is an acclaimed artist and teacher working in the Dallas Metroplex. I trained with her to learn landscape painting in watercolor and oil media. Landscapes are such complex scenes with so much movement. She taught me how to filter through the barrage of information and use values, brushwork and form to create atmosphere and mood in my paintings.