Drawing from the spirit of my figurative works, I found my true self and fulfilment while creating abstract compositions. Discovering abstraction is much deeper than a play of colour or lines, I returned to my first love of landscapes and created a body of abstract landscapes and seascapes. Abstracts are about the person you are. They help you understand and work out the complexity of your own emotions. As I explored the expression I came to love the process of painting abstracts and then there was no looking back as I started painting abstract seascapes. Travels to port towns across the world, from Maharashtra’s picturesque Konkan coast to seaside towns in Greece dotted with white washed homes and edged by the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean, brought me in touch with the beauty of the sea, its openness and vastness, the majesty of spectacular sunsets across sky and water, the timelessness of rocks weathered by the water yet strong and unmoveable, and views of fishing boats at sea or tied at the shore. The splendour and ever changing nature of the sea, the haunting beauty of abandoned boats and the stunning colours of sunsets have always fascinated me. The sea is always alive, active, overpowering and dynamic. I love the sea more than land. And as I recalled those seascapes, I created vignettes of sky, water and boats, in rich colours and tones, creating a spectrum of moods. Drawn against the shore, the boats stand against beautiful blue waters, against intense orange sunsets, and romantic misty mornings; sunsets tinge the horizon, sky and sea; and at night the sea shimmers mysteriously. And perhaps most of all the maturity of strokes, colours and compositions conveyed that I-the artist- had entered a glorious phase. In fact it was these mesmeric seascapes that caught the eye of Kekoo Gandhi and Harsh Goenka in a show in 2002, an interaction which was immensely reassuring and encouraging.
