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

Hi Lyudmila, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My most recent project that will be seen only by very few people is one of the most meaningful I’ve ever done – the murals for the Chatham and Kinston Youth Development Centers. It all began when I painted a mural on the boards protecting “Reliable Jewelry” – a store in downtown Raleigh, during the BLM protests in 2020. That mural was highly publicized and well liked. Shortly after, I received a phone call from Dawn Thomas, the psychotherapist for the Youth Development Centers in Wake County, who told me that after seeing my mural in Downtown Raleigh, she felt inspired to have me paint a mural for their Fayetteville facility. Just to clarify, Youth Development Centers are actually a nicer term for juvenile detention centers. So in 2020 I painted a very large and exciting mural for their sports court surrounding walls that was supposed to uplift and make the area more therapeutic for the young inmates. Recently, Dawn called me again letting me know that they have been awarded another grant for their two other facilities in Siler City and Kinston in North Carolina for the creation of a Zen garden that would include similar murals. I happily agreed to paint 2 more which I just completed in September. Knowing that my artwork could make a positive difference in the lives of many young people who had a bad start in life, gave me an incredible sense of professional satisfaction.

Lyudmila, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Currently, I paint figures, portraits, murals and landscapes in oil, watercolor and acrylic. My work is well-recognized for its unique impressionist style. I’m mostly inspired by nature so I try to participate in as many plein air events as possible. I especially enjoy merging abstract and realistic elements together to create mood, movement and an impression of the world around and within us. But my journey wasn’t always smooth and easy.

Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, I grew up surrounded by my grandfather’s paintings and art books which greatly influenced my desire to become an artist from a very young age. Bulgaria was communist at the time and people were deprived of basic human rights and freedoms so while in high school, I started thinking about immigrating to a free country. But I was also obsessed with art so after taking many preparation classes, I passed the very rigorous national exams and was accepted to the Special High School of Fine Arts and later to the Academy of Fine Arts majoring in Illustration. The art education in Bulgaria is very intense and really helps young people develop their skills. We were taught the old-fashion way of the old masters with years of studying anatomy, painting, perspective and drawing. I remember being required to draw 100 sketches of people from life per day as well as learning the name of the muscles of the human body in Latin.

During my 3rd year in college, a few friends and I managed to escape Bulgaria and after many adventures we ended up in Austria. I only had a small bag of clothes, my art portfolio and a dream. After nine months of waiting and many interviews with the Immigration Departments of the US, Canada and Australia, we were accepted to the US as political refugees. Landing in New York City in 1990 with only thirty dollars in my pocket and my art portfolio was one of the happiest days of my life. I eventually finished my Illustration degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City with high honors and was recruited by the Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios in Orlando, FL. After successfully completing the internship at Disney, I went back to New York City with the desire to continue my career as an independent artist which was not an easy endeavour. I lived in New York City for 20 years working as a freelance editorial illustrator, full-time painter, and exhibit and graphic designer. Those were the years of my many artistic transformations, trials and errors – from painting realistically, then moving to primitive, abstract and whimsical styles and back to realistic. It was a time of great experimentation and exploration artistically.

In 2010 in search of more tranquility and nature, I moved with my family to Cary, NC where I have been residing since and doing what I love the most – painting. My strong education in Classical realism from the Sofia’s Academy of Fine Arts in Bulgaria and later from the FIT in New York as well as my diverse artistic experience has been very helpful in becoming a highly versatile and prolific artist. I’ve been very fortunate to be featured in the International Artist magazine with a 6-page article, Walter magazine, Splash books, North Light Books’ drawing competition Strokes of Genius 8: Expressive Texture and many others. My work has been selected for thePleinAir Salon, ArtFields, RFAS, WFWS, NWS, and many more. In 2016 I was nominated as an Emerging Woman by the EWNC and was personally recognized at the NC Museum of Art where my “Butterfly Women” watercolor series was unveiled. I am also happy to be a Silver Signature member of the Watercolor Societies of NC, Georgia, Southern and the Southwestern Watercolor Society. Currently I teach watercolor, oil, acrylic and drawing workshops in various locations in North Carolina and exhibit nationally and abroad.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I started my artistic journey in the mid 90’s when the internet was just starting as well as all other technological innovations – Windows, Adobe, cell phones, social media, etc. So you can imagine how difficult it was to find resources and any opportunities for artists. Access to information was available mainly from books, word of mouth and networking. I remember spending many hours in Barnes & Noble reading books and looking for information on artists’ opportunities. I wish I knew about all art societies and organizations as well as plein air paint outs, exhibition and competition calls. For example, in order to enter an art competition, we were expected to mail slides and anxiously wait for the results in the mail. It was such a tedious process. But I have very fond memories of those days and a nice stash of rejection letters as well. These were the days of building tenacity and embracing hard work as part of the artist’s destiny.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

Interestingly, I initially thought of NFTs as a scam but hearing how profitable they have been for some, I started to see the value behind it. They may be a good way for artists to profit from the sale and resale of their works in a digital form. I view it favorably and just as another opportunity for artists. But time will tell if it’s something of real value and sustainability and not just another fad. I am yet to create my own NFTs.

Contact Info:

• Website: tomovafineart.com
• Instagram: iamartgirl
• Facebook: lyudmila.lucy
• Linkedin: lyudmilatomova
• Twitter: LyudmilaTomova
• Youtube: LyudmilaTomova

Image Credits
Lyudmila Tomova