We were lucky to catch up with Elsa Victorios recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elsa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I studied art since I was very little, my parents started me to have art classes with different teachers. Everyone said that I was very talented because of my creativity and ability to draw and paint. It was always easy until I started studying fine arts at the National University of Colombia. I studied different branches of the arts in different art schools. I already had all the possibilities to live from art. I came to this country as an immigrant! Al though in the beginning it was not easy to earn money from my art , I helped myself by teaching art classes and I worked in a company where they did design consultancies for interior decoration . It was then that I became known as a decorative consultancy artist. Then I became independent and began to design sculptures for walls, according to the taste of clients and decorators. I also designed beautiful ceramic vases. I went to the garbage dumps to look for cardboard or PVC tubes to line them with elegant metal and cotton threads and then sold them to furniture stores and decorators. I bought my first house with the profits from the that I did with recycled material from the garbage. I had my first business under the name Victorios Art and Design. I presented my creations in home and decoration shows, thus attracting my clients. This country opened up opportunities for me to be more creative and work designing art for clients. In the 2007 recess I had to close my business and dedicated myself to teaching art again. Then I opened my own art studio in Fort Lauderdale in 2013. Victorios Art Studio to work on my paintings and give art lessons. In 2017 Hurricane Irma destroyed my studio causing me losses, but I never gave up. So I found a very nice place to reopen my studio and art gallery! Victorios Art Gallery and Studio . There we teach art for children and adults and we do art exhibitions of local and foreign artists. I also sold my own paintings. So I have always been able to live from art!

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 come from a country of very creative and hard-working people. My family is very hard-working, my parents had businesses and they always supported each other to be together moving their dreams forward. I came with that inheritance in my suitcase as an emigrant. My desire to get ahead was very strong and I thought that I could not live on a salary and that I should find my own resources to be my own boss. So I dedicated myself to making what people wanted to have in their homes. I worked independently with decorators and offered to make them beautiful decorations according to the colors and tastes of the clients. In my studio I teach children to paint in a personalized way and adults take art classes as a hobby or because they want to improve their art style. All people are individual and everyone has a different personality or taste. My students are happy, when they work in my studio, they paint what they want to paint and I direct them to do it according to their wishes. In the gallery I offer artists a space so that they have the opportunity to sell their works of art. I also do art exhibitions for other gallery owners from abroad who want to bring art from their artists from other countries! Success is in the great love that I have for art. My works are also exhibited for a longer time for my clients who are collectors of my art. They want a special work with exact measurements for a space somewhere in their homes. I am very open to giving my clients ideas so that they all have what they want. I am very flexible with my clients and students, I always give them attention and make them feel important!! But my greatest success is the love and passion that I show when talking about art. Art is culture and it is love!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding thing about being an artist is having the opportunity to be an art teacher. I have always been a teacher, even though I was a girl, I liked to help my schoolmates and taught them how to paint landscapes, my teachers from elementary school, high school, at university always asked me to be an assistant to help them all. Being a teacher is a talent and knowing how to teach art is a gift. I did a fine arts degree at the National University of Colombia and I am an artist. But being a teacher I feel that my creativity has expanded more. In my art studio I have small and adult students. Children are more creative and are not afraid to do their jobs. Adult learners are fearful to paint and create. They have made me a resourceful teacher to help them do their projects. I also have the opportunity to encourage artists from other countries to exhibit their works in my VICTORIOS ART Gallery and Studio. In 2021 I was appointed as the president of the jury at the 7Th international art festival at the Haegeumgang Theme Museum, Geoje. Korea. I had the opportunity to meet many artists from around the world, I was also curator and International Art Director. Invited by ICAF International Culture and Art Federation and received 17 awards and 8 trophies. All granted by the different councils, museums and cultural centers and from the mayor of the city Geoje and ASPA Asia Pacific. The museum was named as the museum that has made the largest festival in Korea. Me and my group of judges made a good strategy to attract 284 artists from 65 countries. These were professional artists. I have had beautiful experiences as an artist. But this has been the most awarded. This year 2022 I have been appointed again, as chairwoman of the jury, General Director of International Art and Chairwoman of the Artists Recommedation Committee for the 8th International Festival. It is a real honor that the General Manager Mr Cheon Eob YU has appointed me again and with new titles. Korea is a beautiful country of museums. I travel to many countries and represent the USA and my country of birth Colombia. An honor for me to say that I am an artist with dual nationality! Art is my great reward. I have a long history in art and as an artist.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As an artist I sought to have my own art studio. Doing my art in my house was complicated by the space that was not comfortable for me, so after several years of dreaming about it, I managed to open my own studio in January 2013, then people passed by my studio and asked me for art classes. art . Then I started accepting children and the parents of the children recommended me to other parents and then people asked about art classes for adults, so I started an art studio business to give art lessons, I was in Victoria Park, Fort Lauderdale . Then in 2017 Hurricane Irma destroyed my studio and with the help of many people I was able to reopen my studio in another place, but I also opened an art gallery. This January I celebrated 9 years of having opened my first studio. I am very successful with art teachings , art shows , and selling my own works . Clients love my work and value it. Also my business taught me to be more entrepreneurial and a business artist. I invite art galleries from other countries to exhibit in my gallery. My business is very functional and always geared towards art!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Elsavictorios.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/evictorios
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElsaVictorios
• Other: www.victoriosart.com www.facebook.com/victorios art Studio www.facebook.com/ArtworksbyE.Victorios www.facebook.com/Victorios Art Gallery www.Instagram.com/victoriosart www.Instagram.com/victoriosgallery

Image Credits
Contemporary Art Museum Art Plu . Shanghai.China Photos Haegeumgang Theme Museum . Geoje .Korea And Victorios Art Gallery & Studio