Stuti Garg

Stuti Garg’s Indian heritage is always with her wherever she goes. It influences her perceptions, her opinions and her artwork.

“I was born and raised in Bombay,” says the Woodinville woman, “and even though I have been a citizen of the U.S. for sometime now, my roots are, and always will be, in India. My art is a combination of the remnants of my past with the realities of my present.”

Garg continues to explain: “India was the first place I ever saw art and experienced making art. I captured these images and memories and brought them with me when I moved to this country.”

The self-taught artist cites her mother as a creative force in her life and the individual who encouraged her at an early age to explore and use her imagination.

“My mom loved doing anything artistic, like singing, dancing and cooking,” comments Garg. “She viewed cooking as an art form and taught me how to cook when I was just a young girl. Cooking was a way for her to be creative.”

For many years, Garg painted and made art a hobby. It was a wonderful outlet for her and she enjoyed the freedom it gave her to express herself in ways other than words. She didn’t really pursue art as more than a hobby until her daughter was born in 1997.

At that point, she became a stay-at-home mom with more time to take her craft seriously. Garg began to experiment with oil paints, acrylics and mixed media to produce her abstract portraits and landscapes.

“My work often has an ethnic touch,” explains Garg, “and I like to incorporate various objects like marble chips with paint in order to give more texture. I also use some of the techniques I learned when I studied the art of henna as a young girl. I used to paint henna on people’s hands and you can see some of this influence in my paintings.”

Courtesy photo
Stuti Garg’s roots are in India. Her art “is a combination of the remnants of my past with the realities of my present.”

Garg admits that some of the ideas for her paintings come from within and others from external sources. However, at times, she will start with a simple shape and let it lead her in various directions. This exploratory process can take as little as an hour or as long as several months.

Garg describes her work as colorful and says, “I enjoy the use of color and I find bright colors to be vibrant and cheerful. People have told me they think my paintings are lively and that they have a passion for life. They delight in the colors. And my husband Anu has said that my paintings look like they’re going to speak to you. I like the fact that my work feels very alive to others.”

Garg has exhibited her work at numerous community centers and city halls, as well as at festivals and fairs in the area. She has also won some awards at juried exhibitions.

“I haven’t sold any paintings yet,” she says. “I like to show them to others and I think maybe when there’s more recognition, then I will sell them. But my daughter doesn’t want me to because she loves my work and wants me to keep everything I make. For me, it’s not whether I sell anything or not. It’s the process of creating that matters most to me.”

Garg paints when she feels the urge and doesn’t discipline herself to do it on a daily basis. She enjoys doing art with her daughter and has also volunteered her time to be an art docent in her daughter’s class at school.

“I like to see kids involved in art,” she adds. “It’s great to get them started at a young age.”

Garg was recently selected to have her work shown at the Woodinville Library.

During the month of September, her unique paintings will be on display at the entrance of the library.

“The library is an ideal place to display artwork,”

Garg comments. “Visitors can have a multi-course feast for the eyes – the pleasure of the written word combined with the charming pull of the art.”