Fabulous Friends- Sonali Khatti

(Clockwise from top to bottom) Monsoon (my personal favorite), Sonali (the artist), her amazing bangles, one of her wooden blocks used for fabric printing, and a close-up of one of her paintings that includes a piece of fabric from her collection.

Harbor (Huntington Prize finalist)

Torn Asunder

This is the first of a series we will be doing on fabulous people we know or we want to know. They will all have something in common, our admiration. To launch our series we have interviewed Sonali Khatti, a wonderful artist and painter. I love her work. It's so dreamy and ethereal. When I see her paintings I feel like I'm in a state of reverie. Do you agree? And just today she received the news that she is one of the finalists of the prestigious Huntington Art Prize (read more about the prize here). If you don't want to click over to read about it, I will tell you this- it is the most generous award in North America for painting and drawing. I told you she was worthy of admiration!

What can you not live without?

My photographs and collection of vintage textiles. I love photography and have amassed a ton of pictures that I've taken on my travels. I often use them as a starting point for my abstracts. Having a background in textile design, I have a beautiful collection of saris that I treasure and plan to pass down to my daughter. I also have other interesting textiles that I've gathered from my time spent in India. Some have been incorporated into my paintings, some have been made into various things, such as pillows for our home.

What is your favorite place in the world?

Kutch, India. I spent some time there many years ago and fell in love with the culture of the people that live there, especially the exquisite handicrafts created by them. The area is known for it's beautiful embroideries and Kutch is where my collection of textiles began. I would love to go back and revisit it.

What drives you crazy?

Being late makes me crazy.

What inspires you?

My children, my travels and the world around me.

Sonali has the most amazing jewelry collection as well (did you love her bangles above?) I had to take some photos to share with you. I think I was drooling looking at these wonderful works of art. And the little Ganesha figurine, well, I just had to post. He is too cute. He is revered as the Remover of Obstacles (I think I need one of these in my life too!).

Aside from her paintings do you want some of her jewelry too? I do!! See more of Sonali's amazing work here.