Manifest Goodness In Your Life | Suvigya Sharma | TEDxYouth@NMS
Artist identifies as an "accidental artist" whose guiding philosophy is that "imagination is something whatever you visualize and you implement it it in your real life and putting it into a product or a structure or an idea into creativity." The speaker's career trajectory moved from initial struggles in exporting to establishing a refined style of traditional art, ultimately evolving into creating digital collectibles to reflect the unpredictability of life and the necessity of maintaining mental optimism. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Artist, describing himself initially as an "accidental artist." - Context: Presentation detailing the evolution of his artistic career, from traditional Indian folk art to modern, intellectualized media like NFTs. - Audience: Implied audience that values art, innovation, and life philosophy. ## Theses & Positions - Art creation is fundamentally the process of translating internal visualization into a tangible product, structure, or idea. - The speaker advocates for radical optimism, stating that "what you prophesize what you testify on your life it all comes true." - Mental peace is paramount for personal and professional success; maintaining it allows one to overcome unforeseen challenges. - The value of creative work must be protected through copyright, as its effort can otherwise be entirely negated. - Life is fundamentally unpredictable, suggesting one must focus on the present moment, take things "one thing at a go," and trust "life would always have its own plans for your future." ## Concepts & Definitions - **Imagination:** Defined as visualizing and subsequently implementing that visualization into a real-life product, structure, or idea. - **Accidental Artist:** How the speaker describes himself, suggesting artistry was a natural outcome rather than a planned profession. - **Folk Art:** Traditional art forms prevalent in the speaker's home region of Rajasthan, India. - **Miniature Painting Artist:** A skill mastered by the speaker involving hyper-detailed craftsmanship. - **Refined Tanjore:** A term coined by the speaker to describe his modernization of Tanjore artwork, emphasizing enhanced detail and intricacy. - **Copywriting:** The crucial process of legally protecting the effort invested in an original artwork to maintain its value. - **Perish and Precious:** The name given to the speaker's NFT collection, symbolizing endangered species like the lion, polar bear, penguin, giraffe, or kangaroo. - **NFTs (Non-fungible tokens):** A recognized digital art form that offers global exposure and value to digital compositions. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Art Creation:** The process involves taking an initial visualization and executing it physically or digitally (e.g., pencil sketching, painting, digital art). - **Pigment Making:** Early in his artistic training, pigments were created by blending natural vegetable colors, such as spinach (*palak*) and lime. - **Portrait Commission:** A specific commission involved painting a portrait for a gentleman who had lost his wife two months prior, which took the speaker about a month to complete. - **Art Modernization:** The process of updating traditional Indian art forms to resonate with contemporary aesthetics, specifically mentioning fixing "glitch in the anatomy" and improving gold embossing. - **Copyrighting:** The legal mechanism implemented to safeguard an original artwork, preventing its value from being wiped out by unauthorized reproduction. - **NFT Creation:** Transitioning from physical art to digital art by creating compositions based on the realization of digital value and worldwide exposure. - **Self-Introspection:** A dedicated weekly practice of retrospecting on both positive and negative actions taken in meetings, personal life, or family roles to foster continuous self-improvement. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Pre-2001:** Early life learning art from his father and grandfather, starting sketching at age seven. - **2001:** At 17 years old, the speaker realized a need to pursue his own path, temporarily choosing to become an exporter after studying foreign trade export management in Pune. - **2008:** The speaker officially began focusing on art as a primary source of income, coinciding with global shifts in culture away from traditional styles. - **January 22, 2008:** The major stock market crash occurred, causing significant financial setbacks when the speaker was 25 years old. - **2012-13:** The speaker experienced a forgery incident, leading to a deepened understanding of the necessity of copyright protection. - **2013:** The speaker held his first solo exhibition. - **2017:** Received a call from the PM, leading to a portrait commission for the Prime Minister. - **Circa 2008-2012:** Developed and showcased the concept of "refined Tanjore" style through continuous innovation. - **During the Pandemic:** A period of constraint, leading the speaker to focus intensely on family time and reinvesting time into personal art practice, culminating in the NFT collection. ## Named Entities - **Rajasthan:** Region noted for its rich culture and art. - **India:** Country noted for its rich culture and art. - **Pune:** Location where the speaker attended college for foreign trade export management. - **Bombay (Mumbai):** Location where the speaker explored art after experiencing financial setbacks. - **London:** Location where the British Parliament invited the speaker. - **Pune Symbiosis:** Institution where the speaker studied foreign trade export management. - **PM Sir (Prime Minister):** A client who requested a portrait from the speaker in 2017. - **British Parliament:** Body that invited the speaker in 2008. ## Numbers & Data - Age at starting art: **7 years old**. - Age in 2001: **17 years old**. - Year of starting company/focus: **2001**. - Year of major stock market crash: **2008 January 22nd**. - Age during stock market crash: **25 years old**. - Time taken to paint first portrait: **a month**. - Amount paid by client’s son: **a lakh** (suggesting a high value). - Timeframe for recognizing refined Tanjore: **three to four years**. - Year of first solo show: **2013**. - Duration of interaction with the PM: **15 minutes**. - Age of speaker's son during the pandemic: **seven**. - Initial daily painting time: **eight hours a day**. - Pandemic-reduced painting time: **one hour day**. ## Examples & Cases - **Early Sketching:** Using pencils and charcoal to sketch teachers during class periods. - **Pigment Example:** Blending natural vegetable colors like spinach (*palak*) and lime to create pigments. - **First Commission:** Painting a portrait for a gentleman who had lost his wife two months prior; the portrait was delivered a month later and moved the family to tears. - **Forgery Incident:** Encountering a high-resolution print of his own work at a client's entrance, which was indistinguishable from the original from five feet away. - **Award:** Receiving the first 3D City Vinayak Painting, carved in wood, gold, and silver, with semi-precious/precious stone embellishments. - **NFT Collection:** The "Perish and Precious" collection, featuring endangered species images. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Pencil:** Used by the speaker for sketching since childhood. - **Charcoal:** Used by the speaker for sketching since childhood. - **Pigments:** Homemade colors derived from vegetables (e.g., *palak* and lime). - **Painting:** Primary medium used for creating portraits and miniature works. - **Copywriting:** The mechanism used to protect original artwork and effort. - **NFTs (Non-fungible tokens):** Digital art form used for worldwide exhibition and sale. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - Career Choice: Balancing the stability of exporting/handicrafts versus the passion for painting. - Art Style: The tension between maintaining deeply rooted traditional Indian folk art and modernizing it for contemporary global markets. - Digital vs. Physical Art: The shift from physical painting to creating digital compositions for the NFT market. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - Initial career inclination was toward exporting crafts due to his father's traveling. - The art industry faced a challenge adapting traditional styles to modern tastes, requiring constant innovation. - The speaker acknowledges that even the NFT market has instances of forgery. ## Methodology - **Art Creation:** The core methodology is the implementation of imagination into a physical product, enhanced by meticulous traditional craft techniques. - **Artistic Innovation:** Systematically identifying and rectifying aesthetic weaknesses in traditional art (like anatomical flaws or gold detailing) to achieve a "refined" modern aesthetic. - **Self-Reflection:** Implementing a weekly routine of self-assessment concerning actions in all areas of life (professional, familial, personal). ## Conclusions & Recommendations - For general life philosophy: "Try being optimistic about things in life and just speak optimism all your life." - For creative professionals: Always utilize copyright to protect the tangible effort invested in an original piece. - For personal growth: Adopt the practice of weekly self-introspection to foster continuous self-improvement and maintain "mental peace." ## Implications & Consequences - Without implementing imagination, an idea remains unfulfilled potential. - Failure to copyright work can result in the erasure of years of creative effort, leading to zero measurable value. - Speaking negatively about life can manifest negatively, while optimism is believed to manifest positively. ## Verbatim Moments - *"imagination is something whatever you visualize and you implement it it in your real life and putting it into a product or a structure or an idea into creativity"* - *"I call myself an accidental artist"* - *"Destiny has its own plans"* - *"I am somebody who's an extreme optimist"* - *"the three were sitting I delivered to Portrait to them I hope you like it and all the three were teary eyed so they had tears in their eyes"* - *"the anatomy is the most important any artwork as I like as we are you know we do more figuratives and it's miniature"* - *"it'll take off it will wipe off all the effort what you've made all these years into a into a dumb based there'll be no no value out of it"* - *"what really matters is that your mental piece is very very important at the first go keep your mental peace"* - *"Perish and Precious"* - *"what really matters is that life would always have its own plans for your future"*