I paint like a pig playing in a pool of mud. “In India, we eat with our fingers. We basically do everything with our hands. So why not paint? It gives me more of a tactile connection with my medium.

Artist Mohan Sundaresan works around La Jolla,California, restoring and refinishing the interior of many fine houses. When he comes home, he goes out to his studio and paints until the wee hours of the night.

Mohan forgoes brushes, preferring to paint with his hands and fingers. One of his special techniques is weaving two paintings together into one, creating a synergy. Mohan draws the inspiration for his art from several sources, including his dachshund “Dizzie,” who he walks daily around town.

“Dizzie is my philosopher,”

He believes he is part of everything and everything is a part of him.

“Dizzie inspires me to realize my oneness. My father’s words are also important to me. He taught me that at some point you have to teach yourself. You have to grow and evolve on your own.”

Music also inspires Mohan He listens to many different artists whiles he paints: Jimi Hendrix, Beethoven, Miles Davis, and Willie Nelson, to name a few. He is influenced by painters William Turner and Zao Wo-Ki.

Mohan calls his artwork “an invitation to openness.” His goal is to help people see beyond the norm, to see things from new and different vantage points, to see the patterns in nature, and to see how everything is interwoven. Mohan said his art work began as a hobby, then became a habit and a passion, and is today an obsession.

“I can’t go a day without painting,”

Mohan was born in Bangalore, India in 1945. He comes from a family of painters, sculptors, musicians and dreamers, who could not afford toys, so they made their own.After high school in 1965, Mohan moved to London, living a carefree life doing odd jobs, which he still does today.

Mohan moved to Austria in 1989 to work with his cousin in the textile business. He started designing and sewing and found that he really enjoyed working with colors. After 16 years in Austria, Mohan moved to San Diego to be with his young son and ex wife. He began painting apartments and doing some interior designing. From there he started experimenting with different mediums and surfaces. Painting became an obsession and a necessity of life to him, like food.

He never attended art school but worked for several years as an assistant with a very accomplished artist in Marin County.

Since 2005 Mohan has been living in La Jolla, California, where he spends much of his time working in his studio creating new works of art. He was inspired by the artists William Turner and Zao Wou-ki, and the music of Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix.

In 2011 Mohan did a solo exhibition at the La Jolla Historical Society, where he donated one of his paintings for a fundraising raffle. He has exhibited in local shows and his art hangs in corporate lobbies in San Diego.

His work has been sold to private collectors worldwide through referrals.

To see artist Mohan Sundaresan’s artwork go here

For more information about artist Mohan Sundaresan go here   www.mohansundaresan.com