Young professionals unleash their passion for painting

From Left: Viloshna Sonoo, Sanjiv Aunee & Shakeel Ramruttun

Everyone can draw a circle but not everybody can make a beautiful sketch or painting. Any pursuit of artistic expression requires creativity, imagination and patience. Despite their hectic schedules and hefty workload, many young professionals find time to nurture their creative side. Let us meet with a few such youngsters who share their passion with us.

My Passion….

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8264","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16212 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"218","height":"243","alt":"viloshna"}}]]Viloshna Sonoo: “Driven by a passion to create positive impact”

This 25-year old IT specialist residing in Vacoas is driven by the passion to create a positive impact. Viloshna Sonoo has been recently elected as the 2016 JCI Curepipe Local President. “My aspiration is to make a fulfilling contribution to society by helping the needy. For many Mauritians, medical expenses can be a huge hurdle. JCI Curepipe is working on a project to help those people to share their stories, reach the public and raise funds,” she shares. Because of her commitment and dedication, she won the JCI Most Outstanding New Member for the Africa and Middle East region in 2015. “I also like adventure. Whenever I am free, I enjoy going out to admire the beauty and enjoy the peace of nature. My most memorable experience dates to 5 years back when I went trekking with my friends at Sept Cascades. My dream is to travel around the world visiting new places, meeting new people and discover new cultures. JCI Curepipe enabled me to share my passion for nature with the younger generation. Last year, we organised a trip to Ile Aux Aigrettes for underprivileged children to raise awareness about the preservation of our rich fauna and flora,” she points out. She loves reading fiction. Some of her favourite authors include Sidney Sheldon and Dan Brown. As the new President, she wants to make JCI Curepipe one of the leading platforms where youngsters can express themselves and turn their ideas into actions.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8265","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16230 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"409","height":"255","alt":"sanjiv1"}}]]Sanjiv Aunee: “Painting always remained close to my heart” A resident of Trois Boutiques, Sanjiv works in the medical field and has always been passionate about arts. “I love drawing, painting and I am also interested in interior designing. Painting is the way to relax for me. I have always loved art since childhood and even excelled in school. Due to my choice of subjects, I had to drop Art & Design but painting always remained close to my heart,” he shares. Sanjiv gets his inspiration from day to day life experiences, nature and so on. “My wife Deepika, being an art lover herself, always encouraged and helped me to follow my passion. We both do portraits, abstract art, room designing, mural paintings and even cartoon-themed room for kids. Even though my work is hectic, I always find time to follow my passion for art. Life becomes more beautiful. I simply adore the works of cartoonists Dr Seuss and Stephan Pastis. I also admire Claude Monet for his nature based portraits,” he adds.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8266","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16231 alignright","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"376","height":"261","alt":"natasha1"}}]]Natasha Jeenia Mohesh: “Painting is my inner self’s urge to express myself” A young Educator, Natasha is a nature lover and dreamer. “To feed my soul, I draw, paint and make dream catchers. My paintings are mostly semi-abstract. I do acrylic paintings, silk paintings and I have specialised in printmaking, where I make use of different materials such as vinyl and rubber as plates and making multiple prints in colour on paper. I paint themes that make a person reflect upon her/ his own self or life,” she avers. When asked why she likes painting so much, she replies: “Painting is my inner self’s urge to express itself to the fullest, which words cannot accomplish. Brush strokes, paints on my hands, movements, expressions, thoughts, feelings, emotions, all of them combined spur on my creativity.” Despite her work schedule being quite hectic, she spends most of her nights painting. Luckily she can use school holidays to live her passion more. Favourite painter: “My dad, who taught me to paint my first ever landscape when I was kid. Grateful to the Creator who colours our life!”

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8267","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16232 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"531","height":"209","alt":"shakeel1"}}]]Shakeel Ramruttun: “It all depends on my mood” 27-year old Shakeel, a resident of Malenga St-Pierre, is an industrial technician. Despite being in this field, he has a passion for arts, mainly pyrography which he has mastered to perfection. “I do Pyrography. It is the art of creating designs by burning wood. This can be practised on any type of wood or leather. I tried out different techniques like glass painting and ceramic, but pyrography interested me the most. I developed a passion for this art,” he reveals. Shakeel usually draws and paints depending on his mood. “I do not really look for inspiration. It all depends on my mood,” he adds. Working five days a week does not really create the opportunity to do pyrography. However, since it is a passion, he does allocate time for it in his leisure time when he tries to relax either during the afternoon or weekends. Shakeel has not been exposed to many pyrographers and he has learnt everything from scratch and explored this art on his own.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8268","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16233 alignright","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"445","height":"236","alt":"Tania"}}]]Tania Disha Ramchareetar: “I love mixing colours” 24-year old Tania works as a Senior Travel consultant and is a graduate in International Hotel & Tourism Management. “I have always had a huge Interest in Arts and I believe in serving planet earth to make our world a better place. I am really attracted to semi-abstract paintings and I include this genre in my paintings. I love gouache and oil paintings as I feel it gives character to my work. Painting is a graceful way of expressing oneself freely, be it a dream, anger, happiness or love. I love mixing colours and have nice shades,” she highlights. Tania derives her inspiration from her thoughts. “I like to dream, especially when I’m in nature, I have a deep bond with nature and cold climates, I have lots of ideas and find my solutions when I’m in the shower. Women also inspire me because I feel we are a beautiful creation of God. I like to scribble a lot whenever there is paper and pen in front of me. Otherwise, whenever I am on holidays, I paint or even if I need to paint walls or do anything creative, I never stop myself from doing it,” she adds. Favourite painter: Francisco Goya and Charmaine Olivia.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8269","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-16234 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"499","height":"218","alt":"selveena"}}]]Selveena Samy: “ It is like self therapy” 25-year old Selveena works as an Outsourcing Executive for a private firm and holds a Masters in Communication and Public Relations. Out of curiosity and creativity, she tried out several techniques such as shading, oil painting, pastels, pyrography, ink... Gouache is her favourite. “At first, I started painting abstract, then semi-abstract and I began to love the realist, too. For the past few years, I have developed a new passion for portraits. I have always loved everything about art, be it music, literature, theatre. We all have passions, and painting turned out to be mine. It helps me to grow and to be more creative. Whenever I feel down or angry or anxious, I just grab my pencil or my brush and start doing something creative. Paintings help me to express my feelings and free my busy mind. It is like self therapy,” she confides. Selveena’s father has been both her fan and critic. “My father always pushes me to give my best whenever I paint. My two mentors, Mrs Zeenat and Mr Soobash, help me develop my creativity and ability,” she adds. The young lady dedicates some time to her passion either in the afternoons or during weekends. Favourite painter: Robert Lyn Nelson & Vincent Van Gogh

Communicating effectively in the workplace

Never Personalise Criticism Whether you’re giving or receiving criticism, it should be based upon observed actions and results, not intent. It is impossible to know the motivations behind any activity, only the physical actions and outcome of the activity. As a consequence, criticism should be given and accepted unemotionally, considered for its validity and pertinence, and implemented when action is justified. In other words, don’t be too sensitive or defensive when you receive feedback. Consider the information received as intended to get a different result, not a personal attack. Understand the Situation In this case, the precipitating cause for the criticism was the physical condition and appearance of the store. At other times, constructive criticism is part of a regular employee performance review, designed to give both parties feedback. Use both opportunities to build your relationship and get information. Use a review as an opportunity to receive and give intelligence that might otherwise be missed. Be Understanding Whenever you receive what you consider to be an unjustified personal attack or criticism, recognize the source and their circumstances before jumping to a conclusion. Unfortunately, people have bad days, and they often respond by assailing others for little or no reason. When heads are cooler and pressures are less, contact the assailant to learn more about the problem and how you can be part of the solution. You may discover that the stimulus for the assault was an overreaction on the sender’s part or had nothing to do with you or your work. Learn from your Mistakes Whatever the stage of your career, you can and should continue to learn. Over your working life, you’ll work for and with superiors of varying capabilities and talents. Some you will remember because of their great leadership, while others you’ll remember because they were such poor managers. Even the latter can teach you something. In this case, my friend learned how he felt when unjustly accused of poor performance. Hopefully, he will remember his feelings before he makes the same mistakes with the people who report to him currently or in the future. Sometimes, the bad examples are more effective than the good. Source: Michael Lewis