About Me

Dhaatri Vengunad

Dhaatri Vengunad is an artist, illustrator and visual storyteller based in Chennai, India. She has illustrated children’s books, poetry books and has been a part of several illustration projects. Her digital art, visual poetry and photo haiku have been published in international journals – Sonic Boom, Chrysanthemum, Otoliths, Failed haiku, One sentence poems, and café haiku being some of them. Dhaatri’s visual poem ‘I-deal’ was featured on NationalPoetryMonth.ca in 2023.
Her visual poems have been awarded in the Sonic Boom Vispo Annual Contest 2021, 2022 and 2023. Her cartoon creations Kat & Apila, an unapologetically peace-loving cat and caterpillar combination, have their home at cattails, the online haikai journal. Dhaatri holds a degree in Visual Communication and a Diploma in Children’s Book Illustration. She advocates for neurodiversity and endorses the embracing of differences in every sphere.

Gallery

Here's some of my work in a range of styles and themes.

All Abstract Illustrations Indian art Kat and Apila
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Reflections
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The Headlines
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New cartoon series
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Here Now
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Blogal Warning
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Tiger
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Peacock
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Dragonfly
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Unexpected Gift’ – book cover, 2021
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Tree illustration
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Tree book cover
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Longingfor sun illustration
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Longing for sun 1
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Crow illustration
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Children illustration 2
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Children illustration 1
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Chidrens bookcover
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Johari Window
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I-deal
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Comparison

Blog

Insights, processes, inspiration and more!

The Desk Calendar 2025 is here!

These past few months have been quite busy as I've been using my creative muscles to design the Desk Calendar for 2025. It has been a good kind of busy with the research, drawing, painting, designing of each panel. I'm happy to share that the 2025 calendar showcases Indian motifs from rustic and earthy folk and tribal art forms of India. These compositions have been depicted in styles adapted from Gond, Warli, Bhil, Madhubani, Kalamkari and Pichwai. Delving deep into ethnic Indian cultural motifs, the paintings explore the universal themes of nurturing, identity, transformation and growth. Nature and all the

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...And here I am!

Hi and welcome to my blog and website! I am looking forward to talking about my art processes, behind-the-scenes activities in my studio, how-to tutorials and experimenting with art styles. I always imagined that one day I would be using a blog to say all of this but I really didn’t think it would materialise so soon. This is my very first foray into blogging and I hope to be real, make mistakes and learn along the way (= please be kind)! Thank you so much for joining me here and cheering me on! I hope to see you often

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Products

A curated selection of art prints, calendars and merchandise that you can order

A curated collection of art products from Mother Earth Arts by Dhaatri. From art prints and unique calendars to merchandise of utility, we celebrate our commitment to creativity and self-expression. Here is a range of limited edition prints from which you can order a meaningful gift for a special occasion or for a special someone. I hope to update this section often!

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Testimonials

Sangeeta Kumbla

Dhaatri's calendar for 2023 and 2024 are a valuable piece of art and functionality to me. Her choice of medium and her aesthetic soothe the senses and I always like to flip through it some days just for the joy it brings me. Her zest for life, her passion for her craft is embodied in her artwork. So proud of this young lady and her work.

Asha Bijlani

Dhaatri's desk calendar for 2024 is evocative of her gentle spirit and her abiding love for nature's children.She brings to life the animals, birds and insects in her paintings with her delicate strokes, earth colours and her attention to detail. I look forward to all her future calendars to mark my days of the years ahead.

Sharmila Dhar

We’ve purchased Dhaatri’s desktop calendar two years in a row . Her paintings are beautiful and her photos of those paintings are well- captured images. We are also highly appreciative of the amount of hours of labour and thought she’s put into designing these products. Artists like Dhaatri need to be necessarily encouraged and appreciated.

Neelima Varma

Minimalistic in appearance yet rich in diversity, Dhaatri's designs capture the rustic essence of our rich cultural heritage. Each painting, simple yet distinctive, uses lines and dots to create vibrant and colourful designs. I wish you all the very best, Dhaatri.

Shobhana Kumar, writer and editor

Dhaatri Vengunad's work is a breath of fresh air. She brings with her talent, commitment and professionalism. I have had the privilege of working with her for a journal of Japanese short forms of poetry. As resident artist of the journal, she brings with her a thoughtful approach to the visual elements of the journal. They are stories in themselves, designed to leave the readers with food for thought. In 2024, Dhaatri brought out a stunning desktop calendar, infusing it with images that have often become an inspiration for an otherwise bleak workday. As collaborator with a renowned haijin, Dhaatri's art in ‘longing for sun longing for rain’ speaks of restraint, class and leaps off the page, elevating the reader experience of the individual poems and the book as a whole.

Deepti Menon, Author

Dhaatri is an artist par excellence. At a very young age, she proved her prowess in art, mixing vibrant colours with imaginative ideas to create masterpieces. The beautiful calendars she has created have their origin in Indian traditional art and are eye-catching, the perfect gift to give at the start of the new year. I wish Dhaatri all the very best and am extremely proud of all that she has achieved. The world is, indeed, her oyster.