(Suspenseful music)
(door slams)
(soft music)
- We are at the Tillamook State Forest
on the way to the coast.
I think we found this place like two years ago
I was just driving with a friend to the coast.
I just love that it's by the river and different seasons
you get to experience different things, different colors.
I've been here in winter a lot
and that brings on its own beauty with the bare trees.
So it's just like really exciting to come here every time
because I don't know what I'm gonna find.
I'm Bhavani Krishnan, and I paint landscapes,
figure, still alive.
I love to come out and paint in nature.
(water splashing)
Oh, wow this is so beautiful over here.
I just love that I could just look any direction
and it would make a good painting.
I used to be a software engineer
and about eight years ago
I just started painting as a hobby.
And then very quickly I became more and more
passionate about it.
And so about five years ago
I transitioned into painting full time.
For me, it was just
like how many people get to find their true passion?
I just felt like I had to go for it.
I had to give it a shot.
I was born in Switzerland, but we moved to India.
Like when I was two years old, I always feel like my love
for mountains comes from me being born there.
I don't know, like, I don't know if it makes sense.
I just feel that...
(laughing)
(soft music)
Being out in nature is always been a way for me
to clear my head.
All the time, while growing up
I sought groups that would go hiking.
I remember there being lots of waterfalls
and we would just jump into the water
and it was a lot of fun.
That's how I've developed a deep connection with nature.
Look at that water it's so golden
with all the reflection of the trees.
It's just beautiful.
When I look at a scene
I kind of see in terms of shapes and colors.
So it's kind of like a puzzle piece
where different shapes fit together.
I try not to be very logical about it
but just use nature as a jumping off point.
(soft music)
Especially when there's a lot of green in the landscape
the complementary color will help pop it.
I like to be very loose and expressive with my painting.
When I pick up the brush
I don't even know exactly what I'm gonna do with it
but I'm just going with that pure instinctual feeling.
And what happens is I get all these marks
on my canvas that are quite quite unexpected
which you can not produce
if you're just thinking in a very calculated manner.
(soft music)
If I can use minimal strokes to describe something
that's always like way more exciting.
(soft music)
I came to Oregon for work.
The very first time I came here
was to interview with Intel
and I saw Mt. Hood from the plane.
I almost instantaneously like fell in love with it.
(soft music)
I love to paint along the Columbia River Gorge.
I think that's just a really beautiful area.
I just love places that are open and natural.
I love going up to Mt. Hood
especially in winter to paint snow.
(soft music)
I like coming here to Tillamook State Forest.
The color of the river, the color of the trees
or the textures I see.
Each of them are beautiful in their own ways.
So I just like coming back here
in different times of the year to try and capture that.
(soft music)
When I'm out on location
time just flies by. Nothing seems to bother me.
It's kind of a euphoric feeling where things
are happening organically
and you're not forcing anything.
When I first started I learned a real very realistic style
of painting where the most important thing
was to make something look three dimensional.
And that was what was driving me.
But now recently I found that I need to say something
that's a little bit beyond that.
I don't want to just copy a portrait
and get an exact likeness, but try to, I don't know
like just try and capture something
about their personalities.
(soft music)
So basically everything is already blocked in
and everything is sort of in there,
but I'm just trying to refine some of the colors,
add some complexity.
There was like sunlight on the river,
so I tried to capture that.
Towards is the end of the painting.
I like to step back more often
because sometimes you can keep going and ruin it.
So it's a good idea to just step away
get a fresh perspective and see
if you're actually done.
Up close, it's kind of a big mess
but when you step back, everything's sort of,
you can see trees, the river, it sort of all comes together.
Yeah, I think I'm done.
Yeah, I think so.
(soft music)
I would hope that people would have an emotional response
to my painting.
(soft music)
That they feel something, that they would be moved
by my painting.
(soft music)
Because when I look at art that's what I feel
I'm moved by paintings that make me
feel excited or invigorated.
And that's what I hope to transcend into my paintings.
(soft music)