Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Maithillee Zaveri. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Maithillee, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

At the age of merely 11/12 years old when children are unsure of what they want to become/do when they grow up, I was sure about it. I was in the 6th grade when I was asked what I wanted to become when I grow up? And it was an artist. I was always fascinated when I used to doodle on paper then I was introduced to professional pencils & colours by my parents who started seeing my creativity & then they enrolled me to art classes (other than learning art in school). I started developing alot of interest in it & eventually started my career in arts.

Maithillee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was in the 6th grade when I was asked what I want to become when I grow up? I was not uncertain like many other children of my age then (11-12 years old). I said a famous artist one day. My parents found out about my artistic talents & enrolled me in various art classes (extra curriculum activity) post school hours. I was introduced to vast no. Of materials, colours, pencils, pencil colours, acrylic colours, water colours canvas & paper & vast no. Of topics from still life observational drawings, (shading in pencil/pencil colours) portraits, figurative drawings, landscapes, mandala art to architectures/monuments, paper & clay sculptures. I started understanding & developing a keen interest in all the materials & topics. I got an offer to participate in my first group art exhibition through my art teacher in 2004. I sold 3 paintings. This boosted my confidence to pursue art as a career & since then, there has been no looking back for me. My works have varied since 2004 from doing still life studies to now re creating colourful landscapes on canvas & creating black + white (using pen, pencil, ink & charcoal) architectural artworks on paper. My colourful landscapes always include a waterfall because I believe waterfall paintings/statues bring good luck in homes & offices. My landscapes are not just made on site or from 1 photograph. There is a process which involves 2-3 images merged together on paper then re created on canvas which makes them very unique & interesting from other artists. My black + white architectures are made on paper using mixed media (pen, pencil, ink & charcoal) because it gives a different effect. It takes away the tonal, contrast & texture away giving it life to the work. Black + white artworks are appreciated even today & can never go wrong with them.
I graduated from The British school. 2008 & later moved to pursue BFA in fine arts painting from The Lasalle college of the arts, Singapore. I graduated from Singapore in 2011 & moved back to Delhi. Though I started exhibiting from 2004 all over India after my first successful art exhibition sale.
I feel there is nothing one should feel proud of because everyday is a new day. Everyday is a new challenge for anyone. But I always believe that you should not look down of yourself, learn to have faith & confidence in yourself that whatever you want to achieve you can do it. You are a lot more worthy than you think.
Success can hit hard to anyone in their head, but no matter how successful you become , make sure you’re still humble, true to yourself & don’t let over confidence get you too. Stop competing with others. Compete with yourself, thrive to become a better version of yourself from the time you started your journey.
Artworks are not sold everyday, every week, every month or not always every year too. It takes a lot of time & patience to build oneself up as an artist & yet not to lose hope. I haven’t exhibited since COVID due to rising expenses post COVID but I’m more focussed on doing commission based projects for clients & interior designers. If I do get an opportunity, I would re start doing exhibitions.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society think artists are very rich. Many people’s first impression would be “wow! You’re an artist?! What stress would you have when you’d be earning in millions & billions?!” I think its time for them to know that its honestly not as easy as it sounds. Like any other business, artists work hard day & night for a living to sell their works. But yes, there are days, weeks, months & even years when those works are not SOLD. So it’s important to support them by buying works from them. Many hand painting artists are not given opportunities now because our world has become digitalised including artworks. The importance of painting artists have degraded or there are self taught artists & budding artists who are given more opportunities than experienced/professional artists. Many people think they can become an artist but in reality, not anyone can become a professional artist.
So for the society, its important to support the professional painting artists by encouraging & motivating them. Have more government based proposals for such artists to fund them by painting city walls too.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Back in 2004, there were not many opportunities for painting artists & now the world had evolved so much that people prefer digital art over hand painting artists. I wish I knew before taking commissions on order to take advances & not keep showing the process of the artworks to the clients as they would object for changes which gets very difficult for artists to change later. It is a tough line to be in but one needs to have a second earning as well. I wish I knew about internships & marketing my works to the right niche.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Maithilleez89
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/mnzaveri