Artist Spotlight: Anee Shah
In this interview, Anee speaks candidly about the lifelong juggle of working while raising kids. Her newest art series, Wild and Precious, draws inspiration from a beloved Mary Oliver quote—one of Anee’s favorite lines of poetry. Read on to hear about Anee's newest release featured in the nature-inspired show and what has shaped her as an artist today.
How did you become an artist?
Anee Shah grew up in India before moving to Boston for grad school. This led her to the path into the corporate world – specifically, a decade-long career in biotech. Like many, she followed the almost ‘expected’ trajectory of college graduates, the typical 9-to-5 that builds a “cushy” role into an unfulfilling life. But – life at home told a different story.
When her daughter was young, Anee found that her days were swallowed up by the demands of a full-time schedule, leaving only a few moments together. Anee knew she didn’t want to repeat that same cycle after having her second newborn. She was guided both by a longing for more family time and desire to explore her creative side, she made the bold decision to step away from her decade-long corporate lifestyle and find a better balance between her children and creativity.
That leap just happened to land right at the start of COVID-19, when the world shifted dramatically. At first, she dove into surface design – creating art for tea towels, kids’ apparel, baby goods, fabric, phone cases, and more. The work was exciting and varied, but the process of designing repetitive patterns meant long hours in front of a computer. Before long, she realized she missed the feeling of a painting.
So, in 2022, she pivoted again. That shift opened up a new way of expressing herself, blending her love for color and texture with a more hands-on process of painting. Here she is today, building a body of work that reflects not only her artistic evolution but also the life chapters that inspired it.
What is a fun or unexpected fact about yourself that the audience may not know?
While yes, Anee was undeniably skilled in her role as a scientist, she knew deep down she did not want to retire as one. In her quest to find an alternative career, she entertained a variety of different paths – each one bringing her closer to understanding what truly lit her up. She tried extension courses in residential interiors, attended make-up school, and even completed yoga teacher training!
The journey was anything but linear, but each step offered clarity and a sense of relief as she discovered more about who she was and what she wanted. Ultimately, the winding path led her to art – it turned out to be perfect in terms of aligning with her passions but also offered the time freedom and flexibility she had been seeking all along.
Can you walk us through your creative process - from rituals or routines to ideas to finished pieces.
Between parenting, taking care of herself (like consistent strength training and nourishing her body) and running the household with grocery runs, school emails, appointments, and extracurriculars, her studio time is precious and limited. On most days, Anee only gets a couple of hours to paint, so she makes every minute count.
Before she even picks up a brush, she checks in with herself and decides what the priority is for that day. If it’s a lighter painting day, Anee will put on some instrumental or Bollywood music, letting the rhythm set the tone and get lost in the flow of creating. If she is in the middle of something compositionally tricky or layered, she prefers to paint in silence – it gives her space to really listen to her intuition and let that guide her next movement.
Not everyday is spent at the easel. Some days are purely devoted to the less glamorous side but equally essential parts of being an artist. This means tackling the more business-focused tasks: packaging orders, replying to emails, photographing new pieces, creating content, and updating her website. Anee says “Artists wear a lot of hats, and the business side of creativity can be just as time-consuming as the making itself.”
Most of her ideas don’t come to her when she’s in the studio. They arrive during the most ordinary, everyday moments – school drop-offs, washing dishes, walking outside, or right before she drifts off to sleep. Of course, there are almost always times when she doesn’t have a notebook nearby to jot down her mental creative thoughts, so she tucks them away and hopes they resurface when she’s ready to paint.
She rarely works with a reference image. Instead, she dives in unprepared, letting her instincts take the lead. Her process is deeply intuitive and emotional – there’s no formula or step-by-step method. In many ways, her work is a mirror of her inner landscape. Whatever she is feeling in the moment – the joy, the chaos, the quiet – it finds its way onto the canvas, becoming part of the story she can tell without words.
How did you settle into the mediums you use today?
Since Anee Shah’s childhood, she loved painting with watercolors and had always been a comfort zone – the medium she typically reached for. She loved their fluidity and ability to build, but over time, she found herself craving more depth into her work. She wanted more richness of color, a texture quality, and the ability to create soft, seamless blends that watercolors couldn’t quite achieve. That curiosity eventually led her to experiment with oil paints, and once she did, she was hooked. Oils gave me the vibrancy, texture, and flexibility that she had been searching for which opened up an entirely new way to bring her ideas to life.
What was the most difficult obstacle to overcome during your artistic journey, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest obstacle she faced in her artistic journey was starting completely from scratch. She didn’t go to school for art or business, and she didn’t have friends, family, or a network in this field could guide her in the right direction. Launching a career into an art business felt a bit like climbing a mountain without a safety harness – scary, unpredictable, and honestly EXTREMELY overwhelming.
She had to teach herself everything: from understanding financial and legal sides of running a business to figuring out how to promote her work, manage inventory, and handle day-to-day logistics. She relied on Youtube videos, courses, and a lot of trial and error to figure it out. Looking back, the hair-pulling from frustration, dead ends, and moments of pure resourcefulness is something she wouldn’t change for the world.
What made her career launch even more challenging – but also deeply rewarding – was doing all of this while raising a toddler and a newborn. Anee balanced sleepless nights, feeding, and of course diaper changes – all while managing how to navigate an entirely new career – required a level of never-ending persistence and patience that she didn’t know she had. In the end, pushing through that steep (what felt like never ending) learning curve taught her resilience, creativity in problem-solving, and most importantly, that she could really build something meaningful from nothing.
Tell us about the pieces you're showing in the upcoming show - what inspired them? How does nature influence your work as an artist? Is it an inspiration or perspective?
The pieces that Anee Shah is showing in Nature collection are a part of her Wild and Precious series, which is inspired by her favorite line from one of Mary Oliver’s poems: “what is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This series is her artistic reflection on that question – how we choose to spend our time and what we nurture in our everyday lives.
Nature, and flowers in particular, play a central role in these works. Their fleeting beauty is such a gentle, yet powerful, reminder to savor the small moments and create a life filled with joy. For Anee, nature isn’t just inspiration – it’s a lens and perspective that shapes how she approaches both art and life. The impermanence of florals and nature pushes her to embrace spontaneity and follow her heart’s nudges to create a life that you love – because this life is precious and will not be here forever.
Mark your calendars — this anticipated Nature show collection will officially be available for presale starting August 22nd at 10:00 a.m.
This thoughtfully curated collection celebrates the beauty, fragility, and inspiration we draw from the natural world, featuring work from Anee alongside an incredible lineup of other talented artists like:
Each piece in the collection offers its own interpretation of “nature” — from sweeping landscapes and vibrant florals to more abstract works that capture the beauty of our environment. Whether you’re drawn to quiet, contemplative pieces or bold, color-filled creations, there’s something here that speaks to every collector’s sensibilities.
Presale's for shows like this often move quickly... to make sure you’re among the first to view and shop the newest releases, sign up here to view the early access content and get first dibs on presale! Stay tuned — we’ll be sharing sneak peeks of the work, artist interviews, and behind-the-scenes moments leading up to the release date.
