'Trees' bloom in gallery display at KVPAC

A TREE FOR ALL SEASONS: Varsha Tyagi's painting of Tree No. 4 is part of the display at the Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center, 2501 S. Mason Road, Suite 290, through March 31.

The Gallery at Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center is in bloom with the contemporary and whimsical landscape art collection of Varsha Tyagi.

These pieces were created in traditional mediums of oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastels.

"My style of painting reflects a mix of creative and figurative abstract," said Tyagi. Her collection is called Trees.

Born in 1979 in Ghaziabad, an industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, India, she attended Shilpa Bharti Institute of Fine Art & Craft affiliated with the University of Rajasthan for her first professional art tutoring. Here she got an opportunity to see and examine original miniature paintings of various Rajasthan schools as well as Deccan and Kangra.

"Though every day emotions have left a deep impression on my works, I was most influenced and inspired by Indian miniature paintings," she explained. "I love the colorful vibrations and romantic themes."

Her degree was further pursued in the southern city of Bangalore. During this time, she was also connected to social awareness programs like People for Animals and AIDS awareness for youth. In 2001, she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Bangalore University, specializing in painting.

Tyagi came to America in 2002 after marrying Raghu Kashyapa. They lived in California three years before moving to Katy.

Trees will be on display during business hours 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For additional information, e-mail varshatyagi@yahoo.com, call 832-341-2492 or visit http://kvpac.org/.