If you have ever seen a girl sketching away at a public space, oblivious to the drama around her, you know you have spotted Subhashree Sangameswaram. Such is her dedication and passion that even a fully loaded band party of a baraat cannot distract her. Subh as she is known among friends has filled her Instagram page with sights in and around her.
For Subh, sketching is like meditation. Her sketches are simple but speak volumes about her dedication to the subject she chooses. Take for example the sketch of a croissant. It looks real.
But Subh didn’t begin her career as an artist. Her love had to wait to bloom. She blames her good grades for the final shift. “Year 2000 was the time of engineering boom. With my grades being good everybody suggested that I take up what is in demand rather that go to an art school. I gave in to the career choice that people made for me — software engineering. I even worked in it for a while,” recalls Subh.
New facets of work
Following a short work stint in Hyderabad, she did her masters in Electronic communication in Singapore and worked there for a couple of more years. “During this time I wanted to shift and searched for anything other than that line of work. Luckily I got to work in an ad agency that was run by an 87-year-old man who was more active than most of us youngsters. Here I got to explore my likes and dislikes, hone my photography skills, worked on my writing and decided to give my love for art another chance,” recollects Shubh.
Family commitments eventually got Subh back to India. She shares, . “2010 was when I moved back to Bengaluru and I was sure I wanted to work in an offbeat sector. I got a good opportunity at social enterprise Milaap; I handled their communication and PR initially. Once they grew to become a larger society I started handling their product management.”
During this time she took a maternity leave and went back to work in 2014. During that break she took a 100 days sketching challenge. “We were required to sketch with pen and not the pencil. That was what the challenge was all about. I thoroughly enjoyed it and after a tiring day with the baby and work, I realised the sketching was helping me relax and unwind. Once I started, I wasn’t ready to let go of it,” she giggles.
In 2016 her husband shifted to Hyderabad to pursue new career opportunities. “Here things started working out. I began to sketch more often and people started requesting for sketches for their house or workplace. Food sketching is my thing. I thoroughly enjoy it,” she explains.
Subhashree is now illustrating a children’s story book and also enjoys food sketching.
Word of mouth publicity got her more orders. Subh is currently illustrating a children’s story book. “Freelance sketching is good; I am in love with it. I have also joined asketch group and we do some fantastic work together. I am currently waiting to see my sketch print with the children’s story books. I am glad I made the switch. All I have to do to go to work is sit in a café with my colour and books and work to my heart’s content.”
(This column features people who dared to give up a lucrative career to pursue their dream)
