"... you should never give up hope." Hello friends, my name is Shailja, which means Parvati (who was the consort of Lord Shiva); it also means 'Queen of the Hills.' I was born on 2 March, 1977. I studied at the Institute of Management and Service, from where I graduated with a diploma in Commercial Art. However, I was not satisfied since it was more about commercial art and marketing, than fine arts. I also did multimedia course for a year, yet still I was not satisfied. I remember when I was barely 10 years old, I used to sketch fascinating figures of Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters on chart paper. The snake is another animal that has always fascinated me. Its cool nature always intrigued me. I know snakes can be really dangerous at times but if you are good to them, they are nice and will never harm you. I eventually started putting my favorite animals on the canvas. This interest and desire for art and painting took me to join commercial art but they made me design covers for magazines and visiting cards, whereas what I wanted was to bring out the talent I felt within me. In 2000 I joined the Triveni Kala Sangam, which gave a new dimension to my life. I was so happy to be there! I was able to focus more on fine art, and I learned to appreciate its true value. Triveni became like a second home and thanks to my teacher's kind guidance, I was able to explore art's many facets. In 2003, I was awarded the Northern Camlin art competition for my work entitled 'Hope.' I would like to share with you all about this painting. One day I saw a dry vein curling up in one of our institute's pillar, I thought this could a good composition, and I started working on it. However, the painting was looking rather dead, so I tried to bring life into it by adding three green leaves representing a sense of hope; even if something is dying, you should never give up hope. The bulb gives light to the dying plant and the blue sky represents one's mind. My husband has really encouraged me. I met him while studying the multimedia course. Since we are sort of in the same field, we compliment each other very well. I love painting more realist and figurative compositions, but recently I have turned to abstract work. I am thoroughly enjoying my work, since it talks about my feelings." My Website Address:www.shailjaart.com