Rising Stars: Meet Hansamali Sirinimal of Okemos

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hansamali Sirinimal

Hi Hansamali, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Hansamali Sirinimal and I’m originally from the tropical island of Sri Lanka currently residing in Michigan. Art has mesmerized me for as long as I can remember. I have always had an ardent desire to engage in many forms of arts and pursued fine arts as a subject up until middle school. Later I go into STEM education during high school and continued in that path until graduate school to pursue further studies in chemistry, which is what lead me to move to the USA. However, my love and passion for art never faded away. while I have been successful in my academics/career in STEM I always felt the void caused by the absence of art in my life. This lead me back to get started back on my art journey about 8 years ago, with acrylic painting upon encouragement by my good friend, Suvanthee who is a great artist herself. I remember just like it was yesterday when she bought me all the basic supplies and encouraged me to get started again on paintings, it meant a lot to me, and still does. She has been a great mentor to me to this day with every single piece of art work I do, and I’m grateful for her friendship. I later expanded on to water color and digital art/pattern designs. I want to thank my husband, Yasas, for always encouraging me and for his support given especially on the digital art front and, my sister, Amaya, for her continuous support and encouragement in taking my art work to a higher level. I also wan to thank my artist friend Kamanika in UK for her constant inspiration though her great pieces of art. I cannot begin to explain how at peace and great I feel when I work on my art. I have made it a habit to paint or engage in some form of art at least 2 days a week when I don’t work. My eventual goal is to pursue art fulltime as my career. Some of my art work can be found in my Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/the_hansarts_studio?igsh=MWdzMjZqNGN4cjEzdQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It certainly hasn’t been a smooth road. I had to take a long inevitable break from all kinds of art work for a period of at least 10 years due to my academic work that was not directly related to arts. And, at the present too I’m unable to commit as much time as I would like to do more art as a mom working full time. However, I’m grateful that I can allocate at least sometime during a work week to do more art work, improve my skills and learn new forms of art.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m, by training an organic chemist with some background in molecular biology and bio chemistry, but very passionate about art. I work a corporate job as a Senior Product Engineer in a company that manufacture rapid diagnostics related food and animal safety.

I’m humbly proud of my very versatile background and expertise in many different fields, within STEM fields and outside of STEM fields. Outside of STEM fields, I’m very passionate about all forms of art and culinary adventures both of which I thoroughly enjoy. I believe my engagement in culinary and art fields as a STEM professional sets me apart from others for my ability to balance all of it while engaging in a full time career. My culinary adventures can be accessed at https://www.instagram.com/culinary_canvas_by_hans/.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I have been lucky to have a wonderful support system around me, from my husband, kids, my sister and very close friends, some of who are artists themselves. All of them have been a constant support and an encouragement to keep working on art especially at challenging times. I’m thankful to everyone who are near and dear to my heart who have been supportive of my art ventures through words of admiration and encouragement helping me to be where I’m today.

Pricing:

• 50-250$-for originals depending on the size(prices may vary)
• 25-100$-for archival prints depending on the size (prices may vary)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hansarts_studio?igsh=MWdzMjZqNGN4cjEzdQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr