Meera talked about coming back to art after a long hiatus while teaching and moving from one country to another. She shared beautiful advice for artists and educators around diving into art-making and giving yourself grace as you grow your art practice. Meera also shared her experience through this pandemic and how meaningful it has been coming back to in-person teaching with tactile art materials.
I loved hearing about her work and the process of selecting colors, tearing paper, collaging, and then adding embroidery. She shared advice around how she seeks opportunities and plans for solo shows, which was really helpful.
Meera also created a company, Art Bound, in which she creates beautiful hand-bound books of children’s original artwork. These become keepsakes for the children and families, transforming those piles of artwork, notes, cards, and homework into a gorgeous book.
Meera Ramanathan is a visual art teacher and an artist. She has a Master’s degree in history of fine arts, drawing and painting and obtained a single subject teaching credential in visual art at San Diego State University. She creates paper collages that have been featured in several exhibitions.
Artist Statement:
I enjoy the process of thinking and creating works with a focus on color and the effect of light. Collaging keeps me grounded and I find the process of using torn paper therapeutic.
My works deal with subjects which are often mundane and ordinary; things that we look at every day and take for granted. My aim is to raise these items to a higher level as I believe there is so much beauty and uniqueness in them. I think of my paper collages as an ode to the normal and typical and strive to elevate these objects.
I first sketch my subject to get a sense of the form. I like to exaggerate the color and light to create drama. I then use pieces of paper that I rip to create bold chunks of color.
Hand embroidery and sewing have been a huge part of my life and I look for opportunities when I can incorporate thread into my works to create areas of interest.
Links:
- meeraramanathan.com
- @ms.r_art_class on Instagram
- Art Bound
- Meera’s Art Teacher Blog: tinyurl.com/MsR-visualart-class
