Vikram Madan has dabbled in art his whole life.

But growing up in India, there was not much exposure to art and he had no real role models. Being creative was more of a hobby for him, so he ended up going into engineering.

In 1990, Madan moved to the Pacific Northwest from New Delhi to attend graduate school at the University of Washington (UW). He worked in the local tech industry until 2012, when he decided to pursue his passion for art, attending Gage Academy of Art in Seattle for two years to study drawing and painting. Now, the Bellevue resident is the artist in residence at the VALA Art Center in Redmond Town Center (RTC).

In addition, Madan is painting a mural entitled “Imagination Northwest!” that will be installed by the water feature in Center Court at RTC.

He said when VALA put out a call for artists for the art installation, he proposed something that would appeal to kids and their families.

“My kids used to come play (at the water feature) when they were little,” Madan said about one of the reasons he answered the call.

He added that he didn’t just want kids to enjoy the finished product, he wanted them to be involved and engage them in the process. To do this, VALA Eastside and RTC set up a booth at Good Fest, a festival for kids at the town center that was held in September. Local youngsters attending the festival were invited to submit drawings of imaginary creatures. More than 200 drawings were submitted from kids ranging in age from 1-14 years old.

“The timing was perfect,” said VALA communications director Marisa Provo about Madan being chosen for the installation and date of Good Fest — an event that would be filled with kids.

Madan used the drawings collected from Good Fest as inspiration for his mural, which is a painting of a Northwestern landscape filled with Madan’s interpretations of the kids’ critters. One of the creatures in the painting is actually a sea serpent inspired by his daughter.

Madan received a variety of creatures, but there were a few common themes. He said he saw a lot of flying cats, unicorns and little girls.

Provo said one of the goals of VALA is to connect artists with the community, which is exactly what Madan’s mural project does. People can view Madan’s progress on the mural by visiting the VALA Art Center, now in its new location at the town center at 16409 N.E. 74th St. next to Z Gallerie.

In addition, the nonprofit also works to connect local artists with other artists in the area. One of the ways they have done that, Provo said, has been with their artist-in-residence program.

She said through this program, she has seen artists come together to collaborate on projects as they have discovered each others’ work while working at the VALA Art Center. In addition, she said artists have also responded to each other’s work in their work, as well.

“It just happens,” Provo said. “They feed off each other.”

For Madan, being able to connect with other artists helped with the transition from his career in the tech industry.

“I felt like I’d come home,” he said about when he first enrolled at Gage.

Madan said he received a lot of support from family and friends when he decided to leave his job. He said most people who knew him well were not surprised by his choice. Madan admitted that most of the struggles he faced upon leaving the tech world were internal as he tried to rationalize his decision.

“This was not a rational decision,” he said. “It was a leap of faith.”

Before focusing on his art full time, some of Madan’s dabbling included contributing to the UW Daily newspaper as an editorial cartoonist during his student days. He had also self-published a book of drawings and poetry in 2013 called “The Bubble Collector.” The book was nominated for a 2014 Washington State Book Award.

While he did learn more traditional and technical skills such as landscapes and portraits while at Gage, cartooning and humorous and whimsical art has always been Madan’s passion.

“I like creating things people can experience in a light-hearted way,” he said, adding that he wants to “make the world a better place one shared moment of levity at a time.”

To see more of Madan’s artwork, visit vikrammadan.com or facebook.com/artbyvikram.