Shownotes
I sat down with the inspiring Vasu Tolia. A former pediatrician turned award-winning artist. Vasu shares, her incredible journey from a decades-long medical career. To finding a new path in art, and blending her medical background with her passion for creativity. As a self-taught artist, she uses abstract as her muse.
Uses semi-abstract works to explore themes of resilience, and healing. While interconnectedness of nature and humanity stays at it's core.
Vasu reflects on how art became a powerful medium for emotional well-being. Discussing her commitment to creating works that inspire tranquility, and introspection. Delve into her career highlights, including her public art acquisitions. Notable exhibitions, and recognition in prestigious publications.
Tune in for an inspiring conversation about finding new purpose. later in life and how art can transform lives. Links to Vasu’s artwork and projects, provided below.
We have a magical link below with all our socials and handle so you can find us on your favorite pod spot 🤟.
Transcripts
Lost in the Groove Podcast
start recording whenever.
::Vasu Tolia
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There's no there's no introduction or anything like that. um But like I was telling a bit that honestly, that was the first thing that came to my mind.
::Vasu Tolia
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Because I I've spoken with many people that are in the medical industry and a lot of them have left or have either completely cut ties with the pharmaceutical industry completely.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And I'm not in the industry. So I don't really know what goes on. You have more experience with this than I do.
::Vasu Tolia
yes
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
So what happened was that I was at the peak of my career, like I was the director of the division and carrying on all the research and academic work, like teaching, mentoring and everything.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm hmm.
::Vasu Tolia
Then we had a change in the administration with a new chairperson. And she somehow said I was a star performer and all she wanted me to do was basic research.
::Vasu Tolia
Now, basic research was not my forte. My research was more clinical. So I thought about it for a while and, you know, that particular position was not sustainable for my wellbeing. Like I, you know, and I would have had to start from scratch and then totally new different direction. Although I was halfway there, but that was not all I wanted to do. And,
::Vasu Tolia
because my husband was also entrenched in his career. I chose not to leave town to go somewhere else to seek another position in academia.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm hmm.
::Vasu Tolia
I chose to go into private practice. And after a few years of private practice, I just didn't feel challenged enough. So I said, I have to think about doing something else and wind down my medicine part of my life.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you went to you You went to school though for for quite a number of years to get your degree and your PhD, correct?
::Vasu Tolia
So that's when...
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Not PhD. I'm an MD.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
MD, my apologies.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
See, I told you, I'm not very familiar with all these things.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah. No problem. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay.
::Vasu Tolia
And I practiced for about 40 years. That's...
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
40 years.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Wow, that's a long career. Did did you?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So mommy asking, you um you were talking about, were you working for a clinic, like a hospital before that whole fiasco happened?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, I was working for Children's Hospital of Michigan and I was a tenured professor at Wayne State University.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay, wow. yeah You know, honestly, that I can just, it's hard because when you, go to school for so many years, right? And you spend so much of your own money to get there. And then you have these people that just come along and they're like, you know what? Sorry, we're just going to do whatever the hell we want. You know, we don't care. And it's like completely disregarding the fact of how much effort and time you've had to put in in order to be there with that experience, your level of knowledge and expertise.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And then some random person just comes along. It's like, no, no, sorry. Goodbye.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, that happens in life.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's difficult.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, it's very difficult. But I learned to handle it because I wanted to do it in the best way possible without disrupting our family life.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right. Oh.
::Vasu Tolia
And like I felt at that stage of my career, if I went to a new academic place and had maybe 30, 40 more papers to my name, it's not going to make me or break me.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
wow
::Vasu Tolia
you know so I was already quite ahead, you know, with all those accomplishments. So I said, and mind you, I was able to still continue to do research even while I was in private practice setting because of my reputation, but it's just that the the workload and the setting and all that, it was not all that challenging.
::Vasu Tolia
I enjoyed teaching and mentoring and all that, which was not possible in private practice, although I did have some
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No, yeah I know with private practice because we we there's a level of understanding that there is a a
::Vasu Tolia
floating students, but it was not the same.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
capture of corporate America, the pharmaceutical industry, where they make it extremely difficult for people that want to be private, where, you know, you have to take care of all the insurances, you got to take care of all the paperwork, and if it's not all of the paperwork, then you have to have your staff, you have to take care of and then there's the constant changes of HIPAA, right HIPAA regulations that constantly change year after year.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like, when are you gonna have any time to do anything? We have to deal with all of those things at once.
::Vasu Tolia
I have to tell you, though, that this is not just for private practice. It's for academic setting. It's for medicine everywhere.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
All the total regulation and getting permissions to do this and that and all that. And for those who abuse it, I mean, there are a few of who abuse this kind of a thing.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
But overall, medicine in America has become so defensive because people are so scared about having lawsuits slapped upon them. that even though I feel somebody is abdomen and I feel comfortable saying that nothing is going on, if somebody didn't have my experience or confidence, they might want to order an ultrasound or a CT scanner or, Oh, I just want to make sure nothing is going on.
::Vasu Tolia
That kind of thing. That's where we end up spending more money because we are being so defensive instead of, because people have become very litigious also.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It
::Vasu Tolia
It's not just a one-way street. it's and Yes, and the tolerance for people or parents, I should say, to see their children in any kind of discomfort or pain is so low that if a child hurts for 10 minutes a day for a few days, they just want an answer.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
goes both ways.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
it's something that it It's something that we've become very accustomed to.
::Vasu Tolia
They just can't wait.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
we're I heard this from a doctor, and it was very interesting. We've been dealing a situation with my mom. We went to this doctor that doesn't have malpractice insurance.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay, and that is something that not that many doctors are gonna do, but he did it because he's the type of doctor that I'm doing what I'm supposed to. You got a problem with that, go right ahead. But I know what I'm doing right. but You know, that them my manipulation game of well, you need it, because, you know, you have to spend only 15 minutes with a patient, you immediately you hear something bam, you throw medication at it, bam, you get paid, bam, they're out, and you're done and you're finished. Great. Next person, next person.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Instead of, why don't we spend 15, 20 minutes with the patient, see all of the different problems, the different ailments. What's the the practical approach? What's the right approach? What's things that we could avoid, right?
::Vasu Tolia
Exactly.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Does anybody talk about that?
::Vasu Tolia
and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Does anybody and bother to even mention that sheer fact that's going on right now? I don't think so. There isn't enough people.
::Vasu Tolia
There isn't enough people, there isn't any enough time with the time slots that are you know and that's why I was enjoying my tertiary care setting because I used to have a luxury of time because many times
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No.
::Vasu Tolia
You have to understand what the family is going through to deal with the patient because there may be other dynamics behind that causes what we call psychosomatic symptoms and things like that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah
::Vasu Tolia
And it all takes a lot of weeding out and general feeling of wellbeing that you assess when you are dealing with
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
ah patient i mean A lot goes into it, you know, to come to that kind of a conclusion or decide what next to do.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You need time.
::Vasu Tolia
So it's it's in got to be ah sympathy, empathy and practicality in dealing with patients.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You need time, which is something, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, 100%. How did you how did you take all of that with you? I mean, I know these you said you spent 40 years within the industry. Where's that led you right now? Like, where's your mind right now currently?
::Vasu Tolia
hi I just changed it to a different field, but I didn't lose the groove. I kept a groove of healing with me and I'm still in the healing groove.
::Vasu Tolia
So what I used to do by through medicine, now I'm trying to do through my art.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah Wow.
::Vasu Tolia
So I create art that is calming and healing. My art is in some public spaces like Corporation Hospital and College Campus.
::Vasu Tolia
And I continue to make art that I find that people will find calming and helpful for public spaces, because through those kinds of artworks, I'm also trying to fulfill my missions.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And some of my missions are empowering women with gender equality, helping people with mental and physical illness, like kids with autism. So I have connected with some of these charities and I donate a portion of the proceeds from the sales from my website to these charities that the customer can pick of the choices there.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And that makes my mission very fulfilling and I feel I'm continuing my my mission of healing as well as other fulfilling other purposes for the society.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. Oh, for sure. It definitely it takes you, you know, I think something that we as an American society have become accustomed to is a pill.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, a lot of the times we look at solutions as, you know, you get an SSRI, you know, you get this medication. you But believe it or not, there are other types of medication.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There's exercise, there's nature, there's art, there's music, there's human connection. Believe it or not, surprise, surprise, you connect with other people that can actually heal you tremendously.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um And as a person that like, you know, I grew up in a cult community, like I've been around people that have been traumatized. There is a sense of healing you get when you connect and be there with others, whether like, you know, you were saying through art, through creativity, or even through your own mind.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You don't always get that with a pill.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's not that simple.
::Vasu Tolia
Now, and that's the kind of. message I want to share with your audience at the end is how called you know different cultures can open up your thinking.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And you can find you can find healing and creativity in everyday things or learning from different cultures like Buddhism, Hinduism, all that. So that's the kind of message I'm going to share with your audience later.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's very well, it's very well important because you know, you bring up a good thing, especially with Buddhism.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There was a member. He's I forgot his name. He has a podcast is called secular Buddhism. He was talking about how death is like a flowing river. And you put the Lotus like a lotus flower on a lily pad because they float and rushes down the river. Now, it has two paths. Are you going to be able to be fast enough to decide where that flower is going to go down the river now?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You physically have no ability. If it's the middle of the river, you're gonna try to... But it's gonna choose a path. Regardless of what that path it chooses, you have to accept it.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Because those are your options.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, understanding like limitations, probability, and being realistic at the same time, all keys into one.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Which is, it's okay to be in pain.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like, I don't know why, like, pain-free doesn't exist. Doesn't exist, sorry. Wrong planet, wrong universe, wrong realm.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There's no such thing as pain-free.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Let's get that myth out of the way. Doesn't exist, right?
::Vasu Tolia
yeah Yeah. Yeah. That's true.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What do you think that is? Maybe if you want to elaborate a little more on it.
::Vasu Tolia
Well, I don't. I'm not a practitioner of any kind of religion or anything, but this is just my general philosophy in the sense that i we I travel a lot.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
So when I was in Southeast Asia, I was in Myanmar and I had the opportunity to see a Buddhist camp.
::Vasu Tolia
So this is they have a ritual that when kids are between like eight to 14 years of age, they are sent to this Buddhist monastery for a week or two or even longer if the child chooses to do that and while they are there they learn all the basics of the philosophy of Buddhism.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm hmm.
::Vasu Tolia
So I saw them perform certain rituals like one was a young monk was bathing in nature like you know outdoors with his red clothing on and he was pouring water from a jug on top of it and doing it and I happened to take a picture then there was another one with the monks walking inside the Buddhist temple and you know going towards Buddha like spreading light and another one was a teenager was sitting and reading a big like a book of principles of Buddhism and I really like those
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
scenarios and situations there were many more also like them having fun as well as not just doing the rituals but I created a series with these ah painting or paintings so these were more realistic paintings and but that kind of to me transmitted the thoughts that you know when you are with the nature um You're cleansing yourself, you're purifying yourself with water, the same way you can let water ripple so around you and send your own own aura you know into the world too. When the person is reading, you can think about, you can find your focus and kant if you concentrate, you can find peace and you can learn anywhere. It doesn't have to be on a desk, on a chair and and things like that.
::Vasu Tolia
And spreading the light, that's something that has to come from within. Like you have to feel to want to be a good human being, spread, you know, good deeds around you.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Practice being a good person. Then I think you can find peace and quiet and creativity anywhere.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I think to your point, it's the understanding The world is not going to be a kind place. It never is. But it's what you can take from it that can give you that lover level of peace and enlightenment. Almost we're, you know, let's be real with ourselves. We live in an age where more and more people are on SSRIs. I mean, the list just goes on. For depression, anxiety, when I think a lot of these things could just be solved with
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
taking a walk or connecting with other people or finding people that you resonate with. i I'm speaking as a person that's from experience from others. I've seen the bad side to a lot of these things. And yeah i I just, I'm very much in the mindset currently where there's got to be better solutions than just medication. There has to be.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, but you have to be persistent with it and you have to be disciplined about practicing both kinds of lifestyle.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's not like 123. You're done. You're finished.
::Vasu Tolia
No.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You're great for life. No, it's not how it works.
::Vasu Tolia
So I think it's fine to practice these kinds of alternative treatments personally and professionally, but if they don't work or they are not enough, then certainly I think medications have a big role in helping being the build a society or have that person become more normal and be part of the community.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like your last resort. It shouldn't be like your first thing you jump to is what you're saying, right?
::Vasu Tolia
What I'm saying is it's a very personal decision, but if it is at a mild stage or early stage and you sense it and detect it and you can start taking proactive measures like
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right.
::Vasu Tolia
being more healthy in mind and body because to be healthy in mind you have to be healthy in your body and do more exercise and get all those good dopamine and serotonin flowing inside your body and still if the level of disturbance is to an extent where these kinds of holistic approach is not enough
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh,
::Vasu Tolia
then I feel certainly they should seek more professional help but take care of themselves.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah. Yeah, no, what I 100% agree with you, what I was getting at a lot of the times, you know, people might say, and I've heard this from even people that I know personally, we are, oh, I didn't know, or I wasn't aware of, you know, I think like a level of awareness of like knowing all of your options, you know, understanding like the benefits of I'm just giving this as an example, because it's pretty common is SSRIs,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you know, benefits, for example, doing energy, getting up your dopamine and serotonin levels. so But there seems to be like almost a lack of education that there's anything else besides, you know what I mean? I mean, come on, we we come from a time where people thought diet coke and a salad from McDonald's was healthy. And we've, we've outgrown that, right?
::Vasu Tolia
You know, in our society and community, first of all, there has got to be acceptance of mental illnesses.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
that These are things that can happen.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
once you have Once you have acceptance of it, then you can take all these steps. So first of all, the person and the family have to be stopping in denial that something like that is happening.
::Vasu Tolia
And I'm sure there are more qualified mental health experts who can comment and talk more about it. But I'm just talking about in general, as even a member of the community, that once the awareness is raised, that's why one of the foundations I support is No Shame on You.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
They deal with raising the awareness and acceptance of mental mental illnesses in the community.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, 100. You know, it's something that I could touch on personally. You know, I'm a person that deals with dyslexia and learning disabilities. And I grew up in a society where I had to teach myself a lot of different things. And, um you know, it's a learning curve. But at the same time, like I was talking with a friend of mine that she's a social she does social work, and she deals with ah kids that have autism.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
they're going to shatter into: ::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And also, again, having that understanding like, hey, there's certain things we as parents need to be able to do. And sometimes, you know, you got to put in a little more effort because, you know, it is a special needs kid.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But I turned out fine.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I'm perfectly normal, you know, I'm able to function in a perfectly normal society. Um, I think there's also that limitation, you know, to be kept, I don't know, I'm just, just from my own personal experience, from what I've seen.
::Vasu Tolia
but
::Vasu Tolia
There's a whole range of this autism spectrum disorder. Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And I recently gave a talk to the World Health Organization about the effect of art on neurodivergent population because there are very few.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Especially ones that are nonverbal, right?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Like the ones that can't talk.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah. And there is a whole lot of expertise and there are some artistic geniuses, you know, like I think, I think.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's how they talk.
::Vasu Tolia
Elon Musk and Bill Gates and they are all perfect examples of, you know, neurodivergent population.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
h
::Vasu Tolia
There is a Japanese artist called Yayoi Kusuma and she creates everything with dots. And right now, even at the young age of 94, she's still so much in demand.
::Vasu Tolia
And just recently a brand like Louis Vuitton approached her and they created luggage with her. paintings design and things like that. So just having that stigma doesn't mean that you are automatically in the bad end of the spectrum.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
the
::Vasu Tolia
You can be in the middle in the good aid of the spectrum. You may have a mild manifestations and sometimes we know you may not need any intervention at all.
::Vasu Tolia
And sometimes you may need a lot of intervention to be able to be performing um
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
like efficiently in the society.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. Oh, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
so So it's really a wide range and such a diverse topic that there is no one answer to some of these issues.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
No, there isn't, but you know you bring up a ah great point. I mean, i've I've worked with kids. I used to work for a camp where I used to work with a kid that was nonverbal. And the way he used to communicate was through colors, and he used to love to draw. And you know kind of his sound sign language was, depending on what colors he was using or what he was using more heavily, you can kind of get an idea of like how he was feeling.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's almost like a different level of communication. It's like where you have those and instances, you know, and then you have those that are they're nonverbal in the case of they can't express themselves.
::Vasu Tolia
yes but they can express in a different medium just like you said he picked up in colors and all those colors can reflect different moods that that person is feeling yes
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know. Right.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm hmm.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And what they're wanting or what they're needing. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, it's wild. i just um you know i You hope that there's more levels of awareness. I think that the way to be able to heal and the way to be able to connect is very much not only for yourself, but like, I mean, you're talking about parents that have their own kids.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you know Look, we don't live in the healthiest society, let's be honest. like There's probably stuff that we're putting into kids' bodies that are probably causing a lot of issues that we're dealing with. Let's just be real for a sec. But I think that there's almost like... um like a aura or something that's given off, what the parents are going through is affecting the children.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And then how it's affecting the children is affecting the classrooms or their environments they're around. And it's like a ever growing aura of just stress, anxiety, depression.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And it's a lot. It's a lot for a lot of people. Let's be real.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah Yes, it is it is. And I think all these things have to be worked at the grassroots and slowly raise awareness about all these. And it can only happen with education. So good education is really the basis for ah the foundation for improving the overall mental health and well-being of the society.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean for yourself. I mean you mentioned that you're married you have kids.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, I have two sons.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh Wow, that's wonderful and ah Did you go through this whole experience with transitioning in your career while you had children or this was before before you even had kids?
::Vasu Tolia
No, all this happened much later. you know I have become an artist only for the last eight years.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh Wow
::Vasu Tolia
Before that I was fully inland entrenched in medicine. so when my i When I had my kids, I was just finishing my training.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
so yeah
::Vasu Tolia
and getting on into the specialty training or fellowship.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But I mean, that definitely, even for yourself, you know, you're dealing with, right, a career, and then at the same time, you have family life, you know, you have a husband to care for, you have your kids to care for. Being able to balance those things out does give you a level of ah what's the word?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like a higher up almost where you're able to take that and use that as skill, experience, you know, what you did wrong, what you could have done right. And use that now, pushing forward for the career direction that you're going with, right?
::Vasu Tolia
It really required a lot of resilience to balance everything. So i'm I'm so glad that I had it cultivated early on in my life and it's proved to be very helpful and fruitful in continuing my journey. Like during this reinvention from transitioning from being a medical doctor to considering being a visual artist, the initial years were extremely frustrating.
::Vasu Tolia
Because it's not easy when you don't haven't learned the basics so far through a school program or have had a degree. You just start with some drawing lessons and you try to create some likenesses or faces with drawing or painting.
::Vasu Tolia
It's extremely hard and frustrating to be totally honest with you.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
But I kept on at it and as I went on more and more, I turned more and more to semi-abstract and abstract representation of whatever I saw or whatever I felt.
::Vasu Tolia
Sometimes I even put feelings on canvas, creating artworks that reflected whatever feeling I want to portray. I had to experience it, go through layers and layers of paints and other materials, you know, to carve out what looked like.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Sometimes you go through hundreds before you get to the final one, right?
::Vasu Tolia
yeah Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. Yes. many layers so it it's a it's a process and it's all about the process rather than perfection.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think also, um you know, kind of, if you think of some um level of artists like Picasso, you know, Picasso was not always an abstract artist.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
He did create very realistic pieces, but he completely changed his career, and that's what he did for the rest of his life.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, being able to learn a whole new format, I mean, in your case, it's basically, you know, having your whole life as one way, spending, you know, men's amount of money, taking care of a family, going through all of these experiences, like transitions and resilience,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
and then bounce yourself into a completely different direction. and not many people can You realize this, like not many people can do that, right? like A lot of people will chicken out after just a few weeks of trying, if not a few days.
::Vasu Tolia
it It really required a lot of determination to keep plugging at it, but I'm glad I did because the results have been very immensely satisfying because I i take part in many of the national and local competitions.
::Vasu Tolia
I'm showing my work in group shows and galleries online and locally. I have yes and i have won many awards.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
connecting with people.
::Vasu Tolia
and it just Feels as if I am on my way in the right direction.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You're taking the new step. but Basically, you're turning the page to the next chapter.
::Vasu Tolia
Absolutely.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I think um there's there's a level of where art is not meant to be ah kept. It's meant to be shared. There's a reason why people love ah musicians and artists and you know people that have created music for God knows how long.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
it's because it's being shared with other people. You know, I think that's kind of the secret um ingredient to artistry is that connection that you have with other people. Because otherwise, it does I don't know what else you would call it then. Right?
::Vasu Tolia
You were right about that secret sauce, but I think that sauce is with the viewer or listener, depending on the kind of art you practice, because there is a there is a lot beyond just a visual art in the field of art, you know, like motion and dance and music and knitting and everything else, sculpturing.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Their input.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
oh Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
So art is really comes to fruition when someone else admires it and feels they want it to be a part of their own environment and they would like to look at it again and again. I think that's the step when an artist's journey is really fulfilled that someone else admires it to want to own it. And in fact, whenever you take a piece of my art,
::Vasu Tolia
You're taking a part of me because I put so much into it, hours and hours, thoughts, emotions, everything in it before I felt it was done and somebody else likes it. It feels oh very nice.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I can imagine. it um it's It's kind of wild because when you think of, even particularly with abstract art, a lot of times it's in the eyes of the viewer.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah One thing I remember hearing, which was, it's really wild when you hear this, that what I see and you see are completely different. The colors you see is completely different than the colors I see.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
So if you could take your eyesight and move it to another person, you'd see the world completely different.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We don't none of us see the world exactly the same.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah That is wild.
::Vasu Tolia
yes And you are totally correct in saying that. um And I will expand on that quote a little bit more because because um when you see art,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, sure, please.
::Vasu Tolia
um or make art, the healing or the meditation happens both for the maker of the art and the viewer of the art. So like studies have shown that even when people go to galleries or museums to look at the art and spend a couple of hours there, they come out feeling different and in somehow calmer if they like something. But it is such a personal thing that some person may only like representational art and they will not like abstract pieces and someone one may not like that representation because then you are fixed at looking at a particular face or a thing or an animal or a scene and they may like abstract art because the beauty of abstract art in a way is that when you see it from different angles and different lights
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
hu Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
on different days, depending on your frame of your mind, you may see something new every time you look at it. It may happen with representational art also, but I think it's more likely to happen when there is no particular form to visualize that you know resembles something you know.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ts are coming out in like the: ::Lost in the Groove Podcast
The idea of it was not to be at all realistic. you know that That's the whole like premise. The idea is to try to create almost a drug-infused hallucinogenic experience within an image.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
like Almost like looking through a kaleidoscope right and you're getting like, oh, I didn't see that there.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
oh oh that you know
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
to your point, like, they're gonna be people that are like, No, I'm not interested in that. I want to see something else. But there is a connection to that. That kind of, you know, the same way with a lot of different forms of art that you personally cannot explain to another person, the what your experience you could put it into words. But is it exactly that? no I beg to differ.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah Once you see it, you have to feel something in you to really experience it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And if that piece makes you feel something, then the mission of an artist is accomplished.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I feel like it almost leaves like a ghost memory. It's like um a way of where if you ever come back or you ever see it, there's like this feeling that rushing rushes back to you.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um I don't know if there's a scientific term for it, but there there there there should be.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Vasu Tolia
about researching the memories of past experiences or something you mean?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I mean there there is um I think even a level like even physically that memories can have on a person because there are ways like I've seen this even with older people.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um particularly with my own grandparents, when they're able to see pictures or when my grandfather, he's 92, when he snaps and remembers a memory when he was a child, like he was like five or six years old, it like it flushes back. He's just going on for five to six minutes, describing the streets, the ball, what time it was. You're like, this is almost 90 years ago, like almost 90 years ago.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, it is like a search you know a power surge that just comes through and you just have to deal with it and let it out and you will come out feeling much better.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But you do realize that that there is that level also with people that see your art or connect with your art, that there is those times where people can either reminisce or go back.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um Because again, like honestly, I feel that there is this immediate lock that artistry has on a person that never really leaves you if you connect to it.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, you're right because sometimes you go to the museums and you want to go and go back and see that one painting again and again because it moved you so much.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm hmm. Or you can get the big enough paycheck to be able to buy the painting for $400 million. dollars he ah Not every, and not all of us are Shaq O'Neal, but um, I just, you know, even for myself as an artist, it's sometimes so hard to be able to separate Because sometimes when you you get yourself into that art artistic flow, I don't even know if that's the right term.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I call it artistic flow.
::Vasu Tolia
No, I think that's a very correct term to be in a flow state.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. And it's almost like don't disturb me while this is happening. You know, you're like you're locked out of the world and you're just connected in the zone. You're like, oh, my God, it's been five hours. Oh, damn, you know, it's almost eight o'clock.
::Vasu Tolia
I know, I still haven't made dinner.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. its You get those reminders. But um, ah I don't know. I don't know what it is. Like there are there are certain things that our brain does. That doesn't make any sense sometimes. You know, for example, like with artistic flow, or we're we're just immediately able to change ourselves like 180 degrees just completely. You know, there are people like, Oh my god, that you like? Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't remember, I remember like, yeah I don't remember you like that at all. But yeah I don't know, it's an interesting part of how our brain, our but brain chemistry works even pertaining with art.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. You know, when you get in this kind of a flow state that you are describing, like get in a zone, you really have to lose yourself and you have to leave your ego and any specific constructive phase of your like,
::Vasu Tolia
You can't just look at a line and all. You just have to get in that state and just make your strokes or colors and lines and shapes and everything and and find the answers or something that pleases your strikes as being, oh, now it's done. Now I'm able to see what I want to see or what I want to show.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, you mentioned about being in um Southeast Asia. One thing um i I'm more familiar with, for example, in just like Japan or Korea, they I think they also have this in in the Philippines, where they create these ceramic pieces, like ceramic pottery, and they painstakingly like paint into the pottery. You look at these pieces, some of them I think take like months to make.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And you have to have some level of patience because you're just sitting there eight, nine, maybe 14 hours a day, just doing a section that big.
::Vasu Tolia
yes yes some of them like many of the paintings with the small miniature marks and they all you know take a long time and it is a painstakingly the patient person who is doing it and That's their livelihood.
::Vasu Tolia
It's like, you know Weaving those silk carpets that takes years to weave They turn out to be such fine quality so Not everything can be accomplished in art in a matter of hours or days some things like even creating music or choreographing a dance and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
Writing, for example, literature, the words, you know that has to go through so many edits and revisions before you feel that it's ready to go out in public for others to see and enjoy or admire.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I mean, even touching on with music, there are, I don't know how it is anymore, but I know like back in the day, there were artists that would go through tapes.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I mean, boxes of tapes before you had a final a final draft, sometimes like 215 times before you got to the final. And it's not because the 215 were bad.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's that you had like almost this spiritual connection. Something is missing. You just do it again and something's missing.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you And over and over. Until you finally get to that one, you're like, like okay, this is, I feel it.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I feel it now.
::Vasu Tolia
that's That's what the directors do, right, in the movies? Cut and take again.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
he So many cuts.
::Vasu Tolia
Until they feel they are able to capture or the actors are able to display what they want to capture.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, it's all about being able to move. It's getting into that motion where you can, you you know what the problem, um it's so hard to explain.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's like, you know what the problem is, but you can't put your finger on it. And then as you get closer, you're starting to get like a better understanding of why you're so far away. And then like, when you finally get it, I sometimes be like, oh my God.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh my god, this was this was not that hard or as difficult as I thought it was.
::Vasu Tolia
This is.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But it took that long to get there, you know?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah. This is where you get the gut feeling. Yes, this is it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
I got it done.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You gotta trust, people's gotta trust your gut feeling a little bit more. You know, I feel like it's one of those feelings like, don't ignore it when you feel it. You ever have like been in an instance, you're like, you get this bad gut feeling and you just go through it anyway and you're like, that's gonna be fine.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And that it's not, it's really not fine. It happens all the time.
::Vasu Tolia
Now.
::Vasu Tolia
And and many times many times it's better to go with your first instinct, whatever that gut feeling gave you rather than choose the alternative.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
ah Oh yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
But these are such scenarios that differ from person to person that you can't really generalize it or rationalize it for anyone because how the mind works and what happens you know is beyond something we understand at present.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
it
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I mean, for sure, but I think there is a level of spirituality that comes with it. I mean, there there is...
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um It's coming from somewhere. I don't know where, but it just... and like literally out of nowhere, it just, here you are.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. and
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um And I don't know, I think that there is, there's almost another dimension to what we physically see with art and what we connect with, kind of like what we've been talking about, it's almost we're something spiritually about making that. And then spiritually with our bodies, there's like almost like an attachment But we don't... It's like we know how to we know how to turn it on and off, okay? But we don't know how it's made, where it comes from, or what it is. That's like the ultimate mystery.
::Vasu Tolia
It is. it ist I don't even think AI can solve that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I don't think so either.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah yeah The human brain has to stay above AI.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We want to believe that, but no, I don't think so.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah the Yeah, I because like to your point, ah AI is very much artificial and physical.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Whereas you know, you're dealing with something that's spiritual. I'm not saying that you can't get AI to more spiritual level.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But the same way. This is I kind of heard this from a neuroscientist. We are the universe mother nature in many ways is like a It's like a supercomputer,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
okay?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's an organic supercomputer that on a molecular level is able to put different um compounds together to create different things. And if that is the case,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
If it's able to do that organically, okay, so it doesn't need to have any mechanical or electronic compo, it does all of this naturally.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I think there is a level of sophistication that we as humans are limited to how much we can reach that.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes, we just have to feel lucky that we are born as human beings and we have so much available to us that we can use and learn and make better and make all these inventions and discoveries. um But to try and solve it all, I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
yeah But there is, um you know, when you look at tribes and indigenous people that have spanned thousands of years, they seem to have a level of connection to this organic supercomputer better than we do. You know, one great example like I was thinking of um was in the Amazon, they have um organic soil called terra preta that is human-made.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It's a human-made soil that is self-reproducing. So it never degrades.
::Vasu Tolia
Oh.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
And there's no problem of topsoil. We don't know how they did that. We don't know how they make that. There are tribes today that make it. They don't know they don't know how to make it. they just They don't have a recipe.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They just make it.
::Vasu Tolia
Oh, OK, I was not aware of that.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Mm-hmm.
::Vasu Tolia
That's very interesting to know.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, so there are there are certain things like that where is it because those people were more connected to our planet, more connected to the stars, the way our seasons have changed than we are?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Possibly. I mean, we have changed tremendously as a society in 120 years.
::Vasu Tolia
They're definitely more grounded, those who live more out in the nature, but everybody wants to adopt and they should, you know, all the modernities of life, like when a proper shower and all that is available, why should you be sitting in a dirty river and washing yourself?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's how we got the plague.
::Vasu Tolia
Things like that, expect except as an experience, you know, for a short time.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
So I have traveled to Africa also and I, They take us on a visit to this original village where they are all supposed to be still living and wearing all those original clothes and all. And you know that underneath they are wearing shorts and t-shirts and everything that which they should be. Why should not they be availing of all the modern amenities while maintaining or showing the traditions the way they they were?
::Vasu Tolia
But for them to claim that this is how they still live I feel is a kind of falsehood.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I've had the opportunity to speak with even Native American tribes. And a lot of the members of, you know, they have chairmen, they have councils, they wear boots, they wear a nice pair of jeans, they wear button down shirt.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um Some of them will wear pins depending on their tribes. ah For example, Cherokee Nation, Navajo, they do things like they have different rankings. But they're still Native Americans.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
They still hold on to whatever traditions they still have left. They do powwows. They have gatherings and things. It doesn't make them less of people, quite the contrary.
::Vasu Tolia
no
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But there's something that these people, like you were talking about your experience in Southeast Asia, that they bring this connection of nature into our real world setting.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
We're like, oh, okay, they' there there's something behind this connection to nature that inspired us as people and in many ways enriched us as a society that we I feel that we kind of lack from today because of how you know, with all of our technologies and everything that we have.
::Vasu Tolia
No. Yes.
::Vasu Tolia
That's true.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
But it's up to us to see to what level we want to cultivate and at least get back to the nature to enjoy it more and to learn more from it and try and preserve it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, yeah, for sure. um With everything that you know you you've learned over the past, um you said eight years you've been doing your art.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
What are the things that um you personally have felt that you've learned from it and things that you've grown from it in the past eight years?
::Vasu Tolia
I have grown as a person because by meditating with heart, my tolerance and understanding and patience has increased. I have even become even more resilient because when you enter competitions and shows and there are awards given, um what you thought you put in your best artwork may be totally rejected or not even accepted at all.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Right.
::Vasu Tolia
But you have to persevere and if you believe in it to be a good piece you submit it again to somewhere else and it may win the best of show. So even the the tutoring or the perception of the person who decides on the awards it's so subjective. Like I was on a show recently where I had submitted a couple of pieces one was abstract and one was kind of an abstract portrait.
::Vasu Tolia
and the juror was a portrait artist. So she liked them all but she didn't select any of the pieces that were not portraits for any kind of awards except for the scene. So I'm saying that it has taught me that I should not give up at any stage of this process because what seems perfect to me may not be perfect in somebody else's eyes.
::Vasu Tolia
But it's my process of making it. The experience I'm going through while making it is what is the fruit for me.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
And whether it wins an award or whether it goes in a gallery or someone else's home is totally subjective based on the person's experience by interacting with it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, you know, you're always this is the thing and and it's ah hard to be able to swallow. Not everybody's going to see your success or what you create as good.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
There are going to be people that are going to say, no, I don i don't i don't want to look at this. No, I'm not interested.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
But you can't focus on those people because there are people that want to listen. There are people that want to see, and there are people that want to experience that. And what you bring up is very true because sometimes that that's a setback where, well, nobody wants it, so I guess I'm just going to stop.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You know, I honestly I can say the same thing about this podcast. I've been doing this for three years, you know and It it's not about hard work it's really not it's about resilience and Staying consistent like you were saying is if this doesn't work fine you move on to the next you keep on doing what you have to but that's That's it. You know, you you can't Tell me if that if I'm wrong. Sometimes I feel like you could push yourself to such a level where you have no energy left. you You're completely drained out. You've no more ability to do anything else. And why put yourself in that position to begin with? How does it benefit you?
::Vasu Tolia
you know what you're I think what you're describing is a burnout but burnout
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, pretty much.
::Vasu Tolia
tends to happen, I think it was more likely to happen in academia than it is in art because the process of making art is somehow so soothing that I have never felt that feeling
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Good, and yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
At most, I have felt the feeling that, hey, why why aren't there more than 24 hours in a day? So I could just work some more, you know?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You gotta go to a different planet for that. he
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. So somehow with art, I have never experienced it. I didn't experience it in academia also because I was a go-getter and I always push myself to do more and more and learn more and more.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, agreed.
::Vasu Tolia
to help others because while mentoring, I many times gave my projects to my students and fellows for them to do something so they could go and present at a national meeting and earn recognition, publish that paper. So sharing and experiencing joy of making it or teaching something and doing something for someone transcends any of these burnout and fatigue.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, 100%. I agree with you. I mean, I think even with um academic, I mean, I'm in trade school currently. And if you do something that you want to do, and you find a level of passion, I even find with my own classmates where, you know, I have experience with electrical more than they have. So I'm able to give that input and insight when they have a hard time figuring out certain things, I'm able to explain how things work. And Yes, it's hard, and there are moments where you feel tired and stressed, but the whole idea, and I think this is important, like the whole idea of a burnout is you're doing something wrong.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
If you're getting to that point, the same way where you don't change your oil in your car for 30,000 miles, and then you start having your car not turning on, you didn't change the oil.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
You were supposed to change it like over 20,000 miles ago.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah Maintenance and maintenance and re-energizing your soul and mind is very important.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
It is. you um You mentioned the beginning of the episode. You wanted to leave off um with, a I think you said a Buddhist message. I'm not mistaken.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, well, it's about the the magnet is about finding things in different cultures during travels. And I think it kind of talks, I mean, it signifies that no matter where you are, you can still practice things, find good in different cultures, look at things with different eyes. So I have some paintings of mine from India and from the my visit to Myanmar in there with some guided exercises. And I think it will give a lot of pleasure and help them grow in mindset of calm.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I love that. i Let me ask you something. I know that you have you have a website, you have um social media pages.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um Do you want to walk me through a little bit with your website? Where can people find you? um Where they can find you on social media?
::Vasu Tolia
Sure. So I'm at www.wasutolia.art. V-A-S-U-T-O-L-I-A all one word dot art and my magnet will be on www.wasutolia.art slash forward slash lost in the group.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay.
::Vasu Tolia
I have many different types of paintings on my website and they are categorized by like nature abstract small pieces paper works like that yes yes yeah yeah yes i did yeah they're
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
The one behind you, did you, did you paint the one that's, oh wow, I've been wondering that the whole hour, I was gonna like, us so I was gonna ask you, I was like, did you make that? That's beautiful.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh wow, are those, what kind of flowers are those?
::Vasu Tolia
just kind of puppies and this one has been published in a magazine called art ascent and it won the bronze prize on that
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
hey Oh, very nice.
::Vasu Tolia
that magazine. Yeah, yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
you Did you make them separately? So you painted the one in the middle, and then you painted the ones that were on the side?
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, actually, they were all separate pieces. And once my grandson was talking to me and asked me that, what are you making?
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, wow.
::Vasu Tolia
So I showed him, he said, Dadi, which means paternal grandmother. Dadi, put them side by side. Oh, don't you think they look nice? I think they look very nice. That's a great idea.
::Vasu Tolia
we I'm going to do it and put them all together.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Wow.
::Vasu Tolia
Sometimes an external voice, ah an untrained child's voice just gives you the insight into it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
To be honest, if you didn't tell me that, I thought that they were a part, they were one painting painted on three different panels.
::Vasu Tolia
yeah
::Vasu Tolia
no they
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
That's amazing. Oh, wow. Okay, i like you see it you know what, honestly, that that's something maybe subconsciously you didn't even realize it subconsciously you you could have just made it like this originally, but it took your grandson to finally tell you.
::Vasu Tolia
yes
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, and he saw them together and he just commented on it and that was kind of like a revelation because I'm just working on it. I don't look at it outside the box for some time.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
Like that. Yeah. and And another thing I wanted to just mention is that, you know, when they, if they like something,
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah. yeah
::Vasu Tolia
They can definitely choose it and choose the charity they want to to help me in my missions. And hopefully it will make them feel more fulfilled too.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
but sure
::Vasu Tolia
But I have many more paintings than what are on the website. So if they have something specific in mind, they can definitely contact me by joining my email list or sending me a note and make a query.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
And I'm happy to make some custom art pieces for people too, if they would like.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, for sure. I mean, hey, we got a little preview for anybody that's watching this on the YouTube. um See, you got an idea of what art is available. And like you said, everything is on your website. And you even do custom pieces, which is
::Vasu Tolia
No, not everything is on it because you can't put three, 400 pieces there.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Oh, oh my, you've got three to 400 pieces?
::Vasu Tolia
So, so, you know, it it confuses people.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Wow.
::Vasu Tolia
So I rotate them, you know, I will keep them on for six to eight weeks and I will change them depending on what is sold and what is, you know, next that way.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay, nice.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Awesome, yeah, you know what, it keeps it fresh too, you know?
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
If you didn't make it for the first six, eight weeks, you gotta come by for the next round.
::Vasu Tolia
Yes.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Um, do you have any, um, so I know you have your website. Do you have any social media pages like Instagram, Facebook?
::Vasu Tolia
Yes. ah On Instagram, I am at Tolia Vasu, my last name first and then the first name. And on Facebook, I am with my full name, Vasandara Tolia.
::Vasu Tolia
Hopefully you can share that link in your from the podcast.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, for sure.
::Vasu Tolia
um Yeah. And I will also provide you with this magnet link.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Okay.
::Vasu Tolia
So they could go there and get it.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
Yeah, I usually um stuff like that I can put it in the. ah If you check the the description to this episode, it'll be all in there and then on YouTube, I'll just put it in the comments section.
::Vasu Tolia
Okay.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um But yeah, I mean, honestly, it's been an absolute pleasure. a the there there's Like, stuff like this is sometimes hard to talk with everybody because, you know, there's like expertise and lack of stuff.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah. Yeah.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
um It's just a really great, pre like, honestly, really appreciated where, you know, a little bit of medical insight and just complete life change that seems to be doing really good for you.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
I'm really happy.
::Vasu Tolia
Yeah, no, thank you so much Ken. It was a pleasure to be on your show and thank you for inviting me.
::Lost in the Groove Podcast
My pleasure. Well, listen, everybody, this has been Lost in the Groove. If you want to find us, we're on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube at Lost in the Groove Pod. So with that, catch you on the next one. Bye, everybody.
