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🎨 Why I Create: The Stories Behind the Mixed Media Art

👩🏽‍💻 From Science to Mixed Media Art: My Path from Tech to Creativity

I started my career in the tech world

Armed with a Science degree, I built a stable path working as an engineer and later a Manager.

It seemed like success. But something inside me felt… incomplete and unfulfilled.

“Is this really all I’m meant to be?”

That quiet question kept showing up. Eventually, it led me somewhere unexpected:

Back to Art.


Nimisha Doongarwal at her home Studio, 2020
Nimisha Doongarwal at her home Studio, 2020

🎨 Early Inspiration: My Childhood Connection to Art


I didn’t “discover” art—I returned to it.

Growing up, my mom was an artist, and I often watched her paint portraits inspired by Bani Thani, a traditional folk style from Rajasthan, India.

As a child, I remember

🎨 trying to mimic her brushstrokes,

💭 soaking in the beauty,

🧵 quietly learning about line, form, and emotion.

But somewhere between

✅ school pressure

✅ career expectations

✅ the need to “be practical”…

…I tucked that side of me away.

Until one day…  burnt out and searching for something real…… I picked up a brush again.

Nimisha Doongarwal Earlier Painting of Bani Thani, India 1998
Nimisha Doongarwal Earlier Painting of Bani Thani, India 1998

🔁 The Moment Everything Shifted

For years, I’d think:

“I wish I was an artist.”

“Why didn’t I choose that path?”

One day—I stopped wishing.

I didn’t quit my job.

I didn’t have a perfect plan.

I just started creating.

🎓 I enrolled in Stanford Continuing Studies art classes.

🖌️ That led to a part-time MFA at Academy of Art University.

💼 All while working full-time in tech.


It wasn’t always fun to attend 6-hour long classes, then jump back into a demanding job.... But I knew I was doing what I loved.”


Nimisha Doongarwal's first "Identity" series exhibit in 2019, San Francisco
Nimisha Doongarwal's first "Identity" series exhibit in 2019, San Francisco

💛 Why Art Matters to Me

Art didn’t just bring joy....It brought healing.

It gave me:

  • 🗣️ A voice when I had no words

  • 🧠 Space to explore identity, memory, and cultural duality

  • 💡 Permission to be both analytical and emotional


My mixed media art process is about layering.... Just like my own story.

Through symbolism, textiles, paper, and paint, I tell stories about:

  • Identity & migration

  • Belonging & womanhood

  • Power & vulnerability

  • Trying to fit into spaces that were never made for us


Every painting is a way to come back to myself—

Not the version of me that checks boxes.

But the one who asks bold questions, makes a mess, and feels deeply.



🧭 Why I Keep Creating


Creating wasn’t just fun—it was healing. It allowed me to express what words couldn’t.

  • To sit with discomfort.

  • To be messy.

  • To explore, feel, and imagine—freely.


Art connects me to:

  • 🌱 My roots

  • 💬 My voice

  • 🧶 My truth


Art reminds me I don’t have to choose.

I can live in the in-between—and create from that space.


Nimisha Doongarwal's Mixed Media painting Solo Exhibition at Oakland, 2025
Nimisha Doongarwal's Mixed Media painting Solo Exhibition at Oakland, 2025

🌿 For Anyone Thinking “I Wish I Was an Artist…”

If you’ve ever thought:

“I wish I was creative…”

“I wish I had time to paint…”

“I wish I could do something like that…”

Let me say this:

💫 You don’t have to quit your job.

💫 You don’t need to wait for permission.

You just need to start.

One brushstroke.

One sketch.

One moment of curiosity.

🎨 You’re allowed to create.

🧠 You’re allowed to be more than one thing.

💛 You’re allowed to feel alive.


Nimisha Doongarwal giving Artist Talk at GRO Gallery, 2023
Nimisha Doongarwal giving Artist Talk at GRO Gallery, 2023

🖼️ Let’s Stay Connected

Thanks for being here.

If this story resonated with you—I’d love to hear yours.

“This is where I come alive—and I’m so glad you’re here.”



 
 
 

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