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Shahla Mohsenin: Following Her Journey with Art

Shahla Mohsenin, a retired psychiatrist, feels that everyone needs a way of relaxing. She found hers when she was just 18 years old and beginning to study medicine.

“My own way has always been my painting and my meditation,” says Shahla, a Guilford resident. “Whatever is my way cannot be for someone else, but each one of us must find our own. These are the gifts that God gives to each one of us.”

While Shahla has used painting (she also plays the piano) as her way of relaxing for years while working as a practicing physician, her hobby has grown over the past decade after she retired. She briefly operated a private practice in Guilford before fully retiring seven years ago.

“Since I’m retired, I have more time to paint now,” says Shahla. “Since retiring, I also volunteer to talk to people. I studied death and dying and I read a lot. I tell my friends and people I talk to whatever I know that has helped me in my life so they can maybe find the route on their journey.”

With more time to paint, Shahla is displaying her work at the Carriage House Gallery through February. Her mixed-media paintings are featured as part of the Shoreline ArtSpace Series, which is a collaborative art exhibition between Shoreline Arts Alliance and local town governments, other nonprofits, and community businesses. The Carriage House Gallery is part of the Women & Family Life Center at 96 Fair Street in Guilford and an artist’s reception will be held on Sunday, Jan. 24 from 2 to 5 p.m. with a snow date of Jan. 31.

“I love to talk to people and tell them about my paintings,” says Shahla. “To me a painting is nothing more than whatever I have created and stored in my unconscious mind and through the body and with the help of the brush, it becomes manifested on the canvas.”

Shahla mainly works with acrylics and oils, creating abstract pieces. She describes her work as diverse. While her pieces are mainly abstract, she is able to find meaning in her pieces through her study of spirituality.

“After I finish my painting, I try to find a meaning in that painting and what shows up,” says Shahla. “I like colors. Every color represents something that is within us.”

While this exhibition marks the first time Shahla has officially shown her work, she noted that she often shared her work with patients and used it as a form of therapy. Shahla spent most of her career at Connecticut Valley Hospital, beginning as a resident in 1983 and remaining at Connecticut Valley as an attending before her retirement 10 years ago.

Shahla and her husband, who is a pulmonologist at Yale, were married and came to the United States 40 years ago to finish their respective studies of medicine. They have two children who grew up in Guilford.

“I have always been interested in medicine. My mother was a midwife and I knew that I wanted to be a doctor,” says Shahla. “It was always my intention to be of help in the world and do some good for others. I wanted to help them to have a better view on their own journey and what they want to achieve.”

In addition to taking up painting when she was 18, Shahla also discovered meditation, which has played an important role in her life.

“One thing I know is that meditation is the best way for each person to experience a miracle in their life,” says Shahla. “A few things in our life that we learn come from outside, but there are also things that each one of us knows and this knowing comes from within.”

Shahla practices Buddhism through her meditation and compassion. She notes several quotes that inspire her, including Thich Nhat Hanh’s “There is no way to happiness—happiness is the way,” and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

“I find those quotes very beautiful,” says Shahla. “I really wish this coming year will be a very good one for everyone and specifically in my meditation, my prayer number one is for peace in the world.”

Hours at the Carriage House Gallery are by appointment. To schedule a visit, call 203-458-6699.