Poonam Khanna

Poonam Khanna is an award-winning, emerging Toronto-based artist working primarily in acrylics. She discovered her love of painting nine years ago at a paint night event she attended. Since then, she has passionately pursued painting, making it an almost daily practice.

Poonam began exhibiting her work in 2021 and has participated in more than 50 group shows, including the Riverdale ArtWalk, the Square Foot Show, and the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. She was juried into the Federation of Canadian Artists as an elected member in 2023 and had her first solo show that same year. In 2024, Poonam was named 2nd Runner-Up in the Arts to Hearts Emerging Woman Artist of the Year Fall ArtPrize. She also received an Honourable Mention for her painting Out for Delivery 2 in the Federation of Canadian Artists’ Scenes from Canada 2025 exhibit


Artist Statement

I’m fascinated by the effect rain can have on a landscape, especially when seen through glass. It can change the landscape in a myriad of ways—which is part of the allure. The rain blurs the lines between objects, and many things start melting into one another. Sometimes the raindrops contain their own mini landscape, transforming how we see. And even though the rain greys out the day, car headlights and streetlights glow on the pavement and sparkle in the raindrops, illuminating the scene.

When it rains, I often head out to take pictures through glass—car windows, bus shelters, and even a piece of glass from an old frame that I call my portable window. These images form the starting point of my paintings, which rely on soft edges and a vibrant colour ground.


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What themes or emotions are you exploring in your current work?

I paint urban landscapes in the rain and depict the daily lives of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers as they go about their day in heavy rainstorms and torrential downpours. A central theme is one of resilience. Despite slippery conditions, reduced visibility, and getting soaked—sometimes to the bone—they remain steadfast. There’s a real strength in their unspoken determination.

How does your creative process unfold from concept to completion?

My process begins by capturing compelling reference photos. When it rains, I head out to take pictures through various kinds of glass, including car windows, bus shelters, and a piece of glass from an old frame that I call my portable window. I get into the back of Ubers, hop on buses and streetcars, and go for walks to take pictures. These different types of glass each offer me a different perspective. My “portable window,” for example, puts me right on the sidewalk and up close to pedestrians and cyclists, whereas city buses have a layer of grime on them that just adds a wonderful texture to my paintings.

I've also learned that light rain doesn't make for good pictures, as these days don't have the same atmospheric presence as days when it pours.

These images form the starting point of my paintings, which rely on vibrant color grounds and soft edges. Often, I start with a red underpainting, but sometimes, as I paint, I wipe excess paint on a piece of canvas and then end up with a really colorful background that I paint on. I let this red or color mosaic shine through in my paintings.

Many people ask how I make the raindrops so realistic. This is partially about the light, shadow, mid-tones, and highlights in the raindrops, but really it begins with the background. It is about using soft and lost edges, as well as using lots of neutrals to capture the essence of the day. The soft edges are not easy to achieve, as I paint with acrylics, which, of course, dry fast.

The raindrops are typically last—though sometimes a raindrop is so integral to a painting, it is painted at the same time as the background.


What does your creative process look like?

People often ask me how I paint such realistic raindrops. It starts with the background—it’s important to have soft edges, as the rain softens everything. Then it’s a matter of adding darks, midtones, and highlights to the raindrops.


What inspires you most outside of the visual arts, and how does it influence your work?

The sheer energy of the city I live in—and those I visit in my travels—is a constant source of inspiration for my work. There's a pulse and rhythm to urban life: the movement of people, the architecture reaching skyward, the interplay of light and shadow across surfaces. And when it rains, it becomes even more magical.

I love to travel and always find it so inspiring. Being taken out of my daily life where I’m caught in the hustle and bustle and, for a short moment in time, living life just to observe and experience new things is invigorating. There’s nothing like stepping away to give yourself a new perspective. It’s an opportunity to observe the differences and similarities between various cultures, head out to see wonders built hundreds of years ago, go out for hikes in awe-inspiring landscapes, and experience new foods and customs.

Being abroad makes me relook at my own city, Toronto, with fresh eyes and encourages me to keep exploring new areas of the city, including when it rains.

I'm also one of the few people who actually gets excited when it rains when I'm on vacation. Thankfully, my husband is understanding when I excitedly ask to jump in an Uber or on a bus on such occasions so I can get some shots.


How do you balance personal expression with the business side of your career?

The business side of things is time-consuming, but it’s a part of the life of being an artist. I often paint in short spurts and need to walk away to step back and assess how a painting is going. I try to squeeze in some administrative tasks during these moments. I stay connected with my art by staying in my studio, surrounded by it—and as I work on my admin tasks, I also assess my paintings.


What do you hope viewers feel or take away from your work?

I hope my paintings evoke a sense of beauty in the seemingly mundane. We often associate rain with dreariness, but there is a visual poetry to the rain on the glass—the way it transforms the familiar landscape, creates shimmering reflections, and softens harsh edges. It's about finding unexpected loveliness in something we might ordinarily overlook or even consider a day to simply get through.