Hello,

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I'm glad you found Kala Anshnam. My name is Ila, I'm a daughter, wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend. Other then art, these relationships make me ME.

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My art journey goes back to my childhood where I was a privileged child with encouraging parents. They just paved the way and showed me the path. They provided everything from love and encouragement to very expensive art supplies. It's my dad who found just the right art teacher for me who was strict when needed with a young chatterbox like me and soft when I  melted into tears with my failures in art. He kept me grounded when I was super excited over my little accomplishments and always told me sky is the limit and you still have to go much further. My tutor was an old man and I drove him nuts with my nonstop chatter and questions. He is the one who curbed my restlessness and instilled the virtue of patience in me. He showed me that only and only hard work makes you accomplish. He inspired me. At first I was just in awe of this tutor but over the years as he guided me with his never ending patience he became an important part of my life. He groomed me and my skills. He loved me like a daughter. What a huge gift I received from heavens above. 

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Over the years, I worked with charcoal, oils and clay. Faces inspire me and I always liked to study them when on long journeys or out with mom who always had to remind me not to stare. I did it unconsciously but the person being stared at became really un-comfortable at me shamelessly reading each and every line on their faces. That's where mom came handy..

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I graduated in art with flying colors and started Kala Anshnam after graduation. It started with an art exhibition where I displayed my work in a tiny booth. I was surprised that I received few orders. It kept growing from there. People really liked my oils and I received orders from businesses to decorate their offices. I was new in the business and didn't know the in and out of it all. My dad reluctantly watched me struggle and being cheated on, no matter how hard I tried to please the clients. He being a businessman himself knew what was happening. It must have been difficult for him to just watch and not say a word! It wasn't until he found me crying my eyes out one night that he finally guided me. His advise saved my life. 

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He watched as I made blunders and when people cheated but then he had had enough. He finally showed me the way. My mom ever so kind and supportive. She never pushed me to do household chores as was expected of all the girls my age back then. She never imposed or enforced all those duties. She was a strong believer in girls education. She herself was an avid reader and instilled the love of books in all her kids.

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Blessings kept falling on me as I was married to this amazing guy who is as supportive as my parents, who has to suffer my artist mood swings depending on how the project is going. He's the one who has to cook and clean, help kids with homework when I just extend my work hours without warning. He is the one who has to wake up middle of the night to either wipe my tears because of an unsuccessful project or when I'm super excited over a project and can't wait to show him. He is the one dragged out of bed middle of the night either way. My loving kids who are always accommodating to my ever changing working hours, who are never embarrassed when I go to pick them up from schools and extracurriculars in my pjs, paint and clay all over me coz I chose to work till the last second and then didn't have time to clean up. My in-laws who were always supportive and encouraging when I shared my work over video calls.

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My sisters and friends are my biggest critics and supporters. They tell exactly how it is.. which of coarse, annoys and frustrates me to no limits. I want to yell and fight when they criticize a piece I sometimes have worked on for months..but in the end they're always right and I end up being grateful to have listened to them. They can be merciless when they make fun but when I fall in the ditches of failures and unaccomplishments, theirs is the hand which pulls me out. Theirs is the shoulder I cry on and theirs is the voice that soothes me.. they are there 24/7 and I call on them without looking at the watch.

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My Kala Anshnam is a part of me where I express what I feel. I get inspired by small and big things. Lately it's more of the nostalgic pieces coming out of my heart without me realizing. It's only when my people point out who and what that piece resembles, it hits me and I realize that yes I've been down that memory lane. Lately it's mom and my MiL who have been on my mind.

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My goal is to keep working on my pieces and find homes for them where they'll be cherished and taken care of. My pieces come from the heart and it's very difficult for me to part with them. Sometimes I don't even want to put them on the site or store. I avoid it till I'm pressured into doing it by no other then of coarse my people who keep tabs of all my pieces and know my weakness. How can one not love such caring people?? 

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I'm endlessly grateful for all the wonderful things life has given me - my people and my art. Life can be an abyss of pain and suffering. I'm glad I've found the means to slowly crawl out of it by way of expression! I've found the calling for my life and believe me it's a blissful place to be in!

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Being an artist is like being in a sweet dream where you don’t want to wake up. Where even after waking up you can continue to add on your imaginations and just dream on. Art is a never ending journey where one keeps learning and improving and getting inspired. Believe me when I tell you I have such a huge folder of projects I want to do. It keeps getting bigger and I keep wondering if I’ll ever be able to get to them..

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Art is not just about creating the pieces. Learning comes in different forms and challenges. Getting your piece out for sale is another kind of art I'm learning in different forms by matching my pace with our ever changing world. In that process, I had to challenge myself and learn to create this site..it was really hard because technology is not my field.. all I want to do is work on my pieces. What you see on this site is my sweat, blood and tons of tears that came out in the moments of failure but I pushed and persisted. Taking pictures was another HUGE challenge. I have no qualifications or even a tiny inclination towards it. To make my pictures look as beautiful as I thought my pieces were was another challenge. Of course it’s not without my people that I overcame these challenges and hurdles. They gave me their inputs and valuable time. What you see on the site is not just my art but it’s also loads of precious time, support and suggestions from my loved ones. I have my own village and I most certainly am grateful for this blessing!