Maharanie Jhillu, the 27-year-old creative behind ArtfulExpressions592 said that her painting business stemmed from her belief that art has always been part of her.
Maharanie has painted mostly abstract and modern contemporary art, which are two of her favourites, but she recently started doing pencil art and painting scenery as well.
“The business started in December 2020 and it started from my passion for art, also because I wanted to have a place where I could share my world view through my art. Initially, all I wanted to do was to create artwork…. So, abstract is more about your imagination and what it means. It helps you to dive deeper within yourself. Abstract is more sophisticated; it is not something that you can bluntly look at and [say what] it is… Modern contemporary is a type of very simple art and with these I do experimental art using bamboo strips,” she explained.
She said she prefers when her customers purchase a piece of art that they really connect with, since her art always has a message. “I think it’s more important to be able to connect with an audience than just to sell your art. They shouldn’t just buy your art because it looks nice, but they should buy it because they feel something towards it or they feel moved by it in some way,” she added.
Maharanie said that although she had no confidence about what she was venturing into, she still took on the mantle and has never regretted it.
“I think I started at the right time as a business because if I had started earlier I wouldn’t have had the confidence I have now,” she said. “Initially, I was anxious and with time and practice and putting myself out there it became quite easier and far more enjoyable.”
The young woman said that art in general is a therapeutic practice and meditative process which she enjoys.
In addition, as time progressed, so did her business and the workload. As such, she used the opportunity to host various art events and expos. With the events she also invited other artists to share their artwork and experiences, as well as others who had other items of their own craft to sell.
“I also started doing creative events. I also did art and mental health events. With the art and mental health events what we did was to have an in-house certified psychologist who came and spoke to everyone. It was more of a workshop and then afterwards we had an art therapy session,” she said.
Maharanie had a booth at the recently concluded building expo. She described the event as a pleasant one. “That went very well, I got some artwork sold and I ended up doing body-painting. I offered body painting to kids. It was also a lot of fun interacting with potential clients. We met a lot of interesting people especially from Jamaica and the US and also some of our locals. For me the building expo was for the exposure, the advertisement and being able to interact with people,” she said.
The self-taught artist said that her advice to others would be “to just go out and try,” since the best outcomes are usually from one’s unexpected actions.
Maharanie’s business can be accessed on both Facebook and Instagram @artfulexpressions592, where she takes orders.
