We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Silvia Vassileva a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Silvia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My parents exposed me to art but never influenced be. They let me pursue my dream and gave me full support although my career choice was not what they were wishing for me. They were wise enough to understand that they can not make me change my mind

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I loved painting as a child but i realized that there is a lot that I don’t know. That took me to an art class at the age of twelve and after my first lesson I was convinced I have to be an artist. I studied arts for fourteen years. After raising two young children it became a full time job, a career which I wouldn’t exchange for anything else. I am very proud that I can make a good living as a freelance artist – it is still not easy sometimes but i know that I just can’t give up. My persistence and discipline set me apart from people who just give up after some bump on the road. I am absolutely in love with the process of painting and it makes me very happy when people are in love with the result

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I was in a foreign country, right after getting my MFA, with two young children. I wasn’t able to paint for two years. One day i thought that i can not continue living like that – art is such a necessity for me that I felt desperate. Instead of feeling depressed, I started painting every evening after the kids went to bed and for two months i accumulated enough paintings to have a show at a small gallery. It was almost sold out and that gave courage that i can do it!
Another significant moment in my career was after I moved to the US. I was scared and surrounded by negativity – everybody said that I should study computers and I should get a real job because artists don’t make a living. I went to a college, got the application form for graphic design and filled it out. I clearly knew that I am not interested in this but I thought it is the closest to art. The moment when I had to sigh the form, i felt like something hit me – i should be signing paintings, not applications for fields that I don’t care about! I ripped off the paper and left the college determined that I will paint.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Online galleries

Contact Info:

• Website: https://silviavassilevaart.com
• Instagram: @silviavassilevaart
• Facebook: Ailvia Vassileva Art
• Linkedin: [email protected]
• Youtube: [email protected]