We were lucky to catch up with Iva Hladis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Iva, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I always knew I wanted to spend my adult life in the creative field, even though most of my young life was spent at the gym being a competing gymnast. I was finishing with gymnastics at the same time I had to choose my college education. My desire was to study arts, but the future took on a different turn. I ended up studying chemistry for four years.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into the arts by escaping from home. I had no choice, but leave the country that did not allow me to become who I wanted to be. As soon as I settled in Los Angeles, and as soon as I could, I started to take art classes and assist to local artists. Mainly through my assisting jobs I started my own professional career. Once I found myself immersed in the art scene, one thing led to another. Fast forward 40 years, I have my wide range creative practice, which emerged from hands on practices and my own curiosity in different mediums of the art making. I spent years working on a large scale frescos and murals, some time in the film industry in the props department and at times wardrobe, while developing my own personal style in fine arts. Later in time I purchased a printing press and also started my long lasting job with a fine studio jeweler. I am proud to say that after decades of establishing myself as a professional artist, I no longer work on commissions. I solely focus on my own creative path.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I strongly believe that today’s society is very disconnected from the small, studio practicing artisans. The market has been flooded with corporate produced products and the society lost interest and curiosity in finding quality products of all kinds. In my ideal society, everyone would find and support the artisans, not the many corporations.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My only goal in my creative journey is to stay committed to the practice, to stay original and to keep fine tuning my abilities to produce high quality pieces to offer to my clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ivahladis.com
• Instagram: @ivahladis
• Linkedin: Iva Hladis
• Other: I am an old school and I really like to stay connected with my clients through my email newsletters.