When Renuka Adhav boarded her free ride to Savannah she had one objective: to enter her drawing into the 2013 Drawing Works competition. Adhav, second-year painting student, traveled with about fifty other SCAD Atlanta students who were on their way to the 32nd Annual Sidewalk Arts Festival (SAF) in Savannah. Adhav said she originally had no intention of participating in the SAF competition but then decided to take advantage of the opportunity. “I thought this is something I’ve never done before and it’s free. I registered online because I knew I was going to be in Savannah anyway,” said Adhav.
At around 11:00 a.m. Adhav began rendering “Mother Nature Delivers” on her assigned plot of sidewalk finishing around 2:30 p.m. She said she was surprised when she was awarded second place in the Student Individual category for her work. She says, “I hadn’t looked around at what others had done. People were walking by saying ‘oh you got this in the bag.’ I ended up staying for the awards ceremony just to see.”
When asked what it was like to render a piece entirely in sidewalk chalk Adhav replied, “It was challenging. Blending the chalk roughed up your hands. The chalk ran out very quickly. You have to know which colors to use when you run out of a color. The organizers provide you with everything but you get what you get.” Applying the medium itself was not very difficult for her she explains, “Chalk is very similar to pastel which I’ve had experience with prior.”
Another one of Adhav’s prior experiences is practicing nuclear medicine. Before making the decision to pursue painting, she worked full-time as a nuclear medicine technologist. Having her fill of running stress tests and using radioactive dyes, she decided to transfer to SCAD. She explains, “It was a great job and the pay is great. But, it wasn’t keeping me happy. I’m more of a creative person at heart.” Adhav sees her career change as taking a risk. She says, “Painting is a risk but you will never know what will happen if you don’t try.”
Adhav describes the SAF competition in a similar way, “If I didn’t put myself out there, I would have never known I would win something. It was a great feeling to know I won.”
It’s impossible to win a competition if you don’t enter. Adhav demonstrates that having the courage to enter your works is the first step to having your achievements recognized. The results of the Drawing Workings competition are yet to be determined. However, two of Adhav’s works, “Le Cirque Tordu” and “A Classy Hangover” will be featured in the 6th Annual Beyond the Dot Exhibition this May.
Click here to view Renuka Adhav’s digital portfolio.
