How Art Heals: Paintings by Ashwini Sadekar
Spring Serenade – Blossoms & Birds in Color

March 15 – April 30, 2024

 

Ashwini Sadekar, founder of The Color Atelier, is a multifaceted artist and dedicated teacher. She examines nature from the perspective of the entire visible color spectrum. Her paintings inspire reflection and contemplation, they bring joy and light, and they create a state of peace that encourages healing.

“The brain’s neural network comes together as soon as someone sees a bright painted flower. Once those good hormones are in the bloodstream, you feel good. That’s the experience that one can engage while creating an artwork and how art can offer healing.”

In addition to her visual art training (she studied with Juliette Aristides and Kimberly Trowbridge at Gage Academy of Art in Seattle’s Capitol Hill), she is also an engineer and a “color scientist.” Ashwini holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. She fuses her background of engineering, art, and yoga into a holistic process, bridging creativity, logic, and spirituality. She reflects her colorful roots in West-Central India through her paintings, noting “the rich cultural heritage of architecture, dance, music, and languages shaped my passion for creativity.”

There is a positivity and hope to Ashwini’s work. She is not recreating nature with exacting detail, but, rather, seeking to capture the impression of the natural world she sees through the framework our vision creates. She’s interested in how the colors work together, how they make our eyes and minds react, and how we can find moments of calm in our harried world.

“My work is a method for me to appreciate and enjoy my life’s experiences, as well as to find inspiration in nature in all its forms. Each painting in my chroma world takes the viewer on a reflective, contemplative journey of new color connections. They’re a means for me, the artist, to send energy and enthusiasm out into the world through my painted image.”

As we explore the joys and challenges of living a life – and losing those we loved – on the mainstage with How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Ashwini’s paintings remind us how art can provide healing to our hearts while bringing visual beauty to our eyes. Through color, she captures emotional delight and contentment simultaneously. Her work helps us to find our center and appreciate the world – and people – around us.

“Art for me is that little bird sitting on a tree branch that conveys the idea of peace and that life is happening. I really hope that, with all my vibrant colors and joyful paintings, that they do the job of being that little calm, peaceful bird in people’s lives.”

All works are for sale unless marked by a red dot. Please visit Ashwini’s website at ashwinisadekar.com for more information on her work as well as classes, workshops, and even a color quiz.

— Gina Cavallo, Curator & Director of Development, Taproot Theatre