Artist Spotlight: Anil Vinayakan
Artist Spotlight: Anil Vinayakan
Perhaps you’ve stopped by our gallery recently or saw us promoting the current show, “Nature vs Man Made,” which features work by a father and son pair of photographers, Anil and Aravind Vinayakan. While Anil’s a healthcare professional by trade, he’s a lifelong artist at heart; not only as a photographer, but as a painter with a studio here at Mellwood too.
Growing up, Anil loved drawing. He also had a desire to do photography, but unfortunately couldn’t convince his parents to get him a camera. It wasn’t until he got older that Anil started painting. Heading into med school, however, his life got busier and he largely put his art on hold; only producing medical illustrations. A year after performing plastic surgery in India, Anil finally persuaded his parents to get him a camera; he needed it to document his work. And while he did use the camera for that purpose, he also took photos of landscapes when he didn’t have time to paint.
It wasn’t until he left India and started teaching at UofL that Anil reconnected with painting. He took advantage of his proximity to the Speed Art Museum to view the art on display there. He reviewed art books from UofL’s library and even took some classes through their Lifelong Learning program. He moved into a studio here at Mellwood in 2008 to better focus on his painting. With encouragement from friends and colleagues, Anil started showing and selling his photographs and paintings.
Whether it’s painting or photography, nature, to varying degrees, is a constant subject and source of inspiration. With regards to his paintings, Anil started with oils and acrylics. His greatest inspiration was John Singer Sargent. During the spring of 2020, the pandemic gave Anil the opportunity to study watercolor painting. He admires the watercolor paintings of Joseph Zbukvic, Andy Evansen, Thomas Schaller, Keiko Tanabe, Jerry Smith, among others. In viewing his paintings, one views serene landscapes through the hazy lens of memory or a dream.
“Nature vs Man Made” will be on display in our Pigment Gallery until June 18th. Be sure to catch his next gallery show at the KORE Gallery on July 10th. To see more of his paintings, check out his KORE Gallery artist profile at koreartgallery.com/anil-vinayakan.
Perhaps you’ve stopped by our gallery recently or saw us promoting the current show, “Nature vs Man Made,” which features work by a father and son pair of photographers, Anil and Aravind Vinayakan. While Anil’s a healthcare professional by trade, he’s a lifelong artist at heart; not only as a photographer, but as a painter with a studio here at Mellwood too.
Growing up, Anil loved drawing. He also had a desire to do photography, but unfortunately couldn’t convince his parents to get him a camera. It wasn’t until he got older that Anil started painting. Heading into med school, however, his life got busier and he largely put his art on hold; only producing medical illustrations. A year after performing plastic surgery in India, Anil finally persuaded his parents to get him a camera; he needed it to document his work. And while he did use the camera for that purpose, he also took photos of landscapes when he didn’t have time to paint.
It wasn’t until he left India and started teaching at UofL that Anil reconnected with painting. He took advantage of his proximity to the Speed Art Museum to view the art on display there. He reviewed art books from UofL’s library and even took some classes through their Lifelong Learning program. He moved into a studio here at Mellwood in 2008 to better focus on his painting. With encouragement from friends and colleagues, Anil started showing and selling his photographs and paintings.
Whether it’s painting or photography, nature, to varying degrees, is a constant subject and source of inspiration. With regards to his paintings, Anil started with oils and acrylics. His greatest inspiration was John Singer Sargent. During the spring of 2020, the pandemic gave Anil the opportunity to study watercolor painting. He admires the watercolor paintings of Joseph Zbukvic, Andy Evansen, Thomas Schaller, Keiko Tanabe, Jerry Smith, among others. In viewing his paintings, one views serene landscapes through the hazy lens of memory or a dream.
“Nature vs Man Made” will be on display in our Pigment Gallery until June 18th. Be sure to catch his next gallery show at the KORE Gallery on July 10th. To see more of his paintings, check out his KORE Gallery artist profile at koreartgallery.com/anil-vinayakan.