How a Pediatrician Found Her True Canvas: Nalini's Colorful Journey!

Nalini Gupta has considered herself an artist for as long as she has been able to hold a paintbrush–that is, since the age of five. Growing up surrounded by uncles, aunts, and cousins who dabbled in art, Nalini was especially drawn to her school art classes, often walking in on Saturdays for extra lessons. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she learned the fundamentals of artistic design from the nuns who taught her: color composition and perspective, anatomy and geometry. Though she once imagined becoming a professional artist, Nalini found her first calling as a pediatrician, driven by her love of working with children. Art nevertheless remained a constant as she moved from India to the United States. She gravitated to watercolors for their affordability and accessibility, first using painting as a way to decompress while raising two young children in a new country. Later, as she specialized in treating patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), art became another way to connect with the children in her care, for whom neurodivergence and artistic interest often went hand in hand. She displayed their paintings on her office walls and, over the years, donated her own work to charity auctions supporting ASD research.

After moving to Spokane, Washington, health struggles resulting in a vision-related disability prompted Nalini to explore media requiring less visual concentration. She began working with acrylics, which lent themselves to abstract compositions and were easy to share with her children as they developed artistic interests of their own. It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic, however, that she discovered the medium that would come to define her practice: fluid-pour art. Captivated by its unpredictability, she learned to relinquish control, pouring paint and allowing gravity to shape the result. No two pieces were ever alike. Ever self-taught, she experimented with different materials and colors, moving from acrylics to resin and from canvas to wood.

This iterative process led Nalini at last to functional art: original pieces designed to be used in everyday life as well as admired. Historically, art has often belonged to the wealthy and elite–expensive, inaccessible, and kept at a distance from daily life. Nalini chose functional art because it offers another possibility. Through serving bowls, jewelry trays, bottle openers, and other one-of-a-kind works, she makes art both approachable and useful. Each piece remains entirely original, shaped by its own movement, color, and chance.

In this work, Nalini continues a family tradition of blending art with utility, including her own mother, who painted sarees and embroidered fabrics for her children to wear to school. Today, Nalini fulfills her childhood dream of becoming a full-time artist, sharing her work at markets and festivals across the Pacific Northwest and inviting people of all ages to bring a singular piece of art into their homes and everyday rituals. Check out her creations at www.nalinisartforall.com