Tarushee Mehra is an illustrator, designer and educator with experience in planning and designing content for various organisations focusing on art, education, intellectual development and mental well-being. She has worked with NGOs like Sakshi.org, Saathi Haath Badhaana and Mithra Trust, aiming to ignite imagination and creativity in younger audiences.
Mehra has also worked with children, schools and university students as a museum artefact raconteur and art educator. She frequently focuses on storytelling themes and ideas through workshops, allowing participants to draw, doodle, paint and create collages with mixed media.
Currently based in South Goa, Mehra is passionate about creating spaces for expression and enhancing learning.
For Tarushee, art is a powerful outlet for individual perception and creativity, offering various mediums for both adults and children. It ignites creativity, allows appreciation of nuance and hones perception.
Encouraging people of all ages to explore art can bring joy and magic. She talks about her inspiration behind her work. “The educators in my family and my workplace are the source of personal inspiration and mentorship in my journey as a creative educator. The related fields of leadership, training, education, research and innovation make up the multitudinous touchstones of essential requisite proficiency, in addition,” she says.
She continues, “I am inclined towards working with initiatives that strive towards integrating design as inherent ergonomics and enhancement for people from all walks of life.”
Art in workshops is inspiring as it integrates various topics and fosters learning not just for Tarushee but also for the children for whom she designs these workshops.
She says, “The myriad ways of expression via social media campaigns, websites, digital design initiatives, public exhibitions and workshops necessarily inspires me to constantly evolve as a creative entity.”
Tarushee considers art as the expression of meaningful ideas and imagination, often born from a wish to create something new. It can be considered perfect if it captures and emulates life’s imperfections, though the appreciation of its nuances may vary.
Speaking of the mediums that she works with she says, “My go-to will always be pen and ink and traditional media. I also create works in watercolour on paper and digital illustrations using a graphic tablet. Quick sketches, note taking and sketch noting are ways in which I have been able to effectively communicate with clients in the early stages of any project. In my practice, journaling with scrap paper, magazine cut-outs and using pastels with pen and ink drawings is my happy place!”
Tarushee talks about her personal art practice, which involves keeping a small journal, essential tools and a sketchbook on her at all times.
Inspired by Abhimanyu Ghumiray’s sketches and paintings, she finds this practice to be enjoyable and stress-free. She also mentions the benefits of daily challenges like Inktober and the 100 Days of Sketching challenge, which help artists stay motivated and connected to a supportive community.
She further adds, “My so-called ritual is to read and write a lot and save parts of my travel, like ticket stubs and photographs that help me stay inspired. I also annotate my journals with notes for workshops and snippets of conversations with friends. Something that I’m trying to do more of is to make real (not reel) the ideas that come to my head as often as possible. Don’t let that idea be a ‘could have been’ or a ‘would have been’! Go out there and do the thing!”
Tarushee feels creating for oneself and helping others create are different experiences. Planning activities with children involves setting objectives and engaging them in creative activities with basic tools like pencils and paper.
Her aim while teaching art to children is to provide knowledge about tools like brushes and paints and help them explore and apply their creative journey while ensuring a fun and engaging experience.
Tarushee would feel lost without the ability to draw, paint, create and make.
She says, “It is an outlet for me to express my innermost thoughts and emotions, while also enhancing my understanding of people, places and events. I created a non-binary character called Chalchal in 2019, which provides me with a way to express myself as a character in my learning journey.”
“It is a curious, enthusiastic and eager persona, who is sensitive and kind in its interactions with the world. I’d like to think that such a person would appeal to children too! Chalchal started in a sketchbook while thinking out loud and finally took form and shape while developing the idea as an illustrative series!” she explains.
As a creative person, Tarushee finds her biggest challenge is to just start an artwork. She has hardly experienced any difficulty instructing children.
She says, “Children are very interactive indeed! Engaging with younger children definitely needs to be guided and structured, with plenty of room to improvise, and to expand the conventional envelope.”
If Tarushee doesn’t paint or teach art, she freelances as a content creator and accepts projects for customised digital initiatives.
Tarushee is excited to work in the art and education space at the Museum of Christian Art in Old Goa, focusing on the Kids at MoCA programme, which includes curated walks, hands-on activities and interactive exchanges.
Tarushee encourages self-taught artists or those studying or considering changing their profession to become one. She says, “I would encourage all and sundry to take the leap of faith! I would not be where I am without the support of mentors that I met in my professional journey and through my education.”
“There is no singular pathway to explore and equip yourself for the kind of work you wish to do. It helps to imagine the kind of space where you feel you can contribute the most and the necessary steps that can get you there,” she concludes.
Making art is a personal journey, whether for personal portfolios, self-funded projects, volunteering, or enrolling in an institution, but it also fosters community.
Tarushee said, “Look out for opportunities at local bookstores, museums, and community centres and enquire about how you may contribute. Opportunities may turn up in online spaces too. Talk about your work to anyone willing to listen and find your people. Explore exhibitions in your area. Last but not least, document your work extensively. From conception to the final product, what makes an artist unique is the way they think and the motivation with which they can create.”