Check out Sonya Petkova’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonya Petkova.

Sonya, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Hello everyone!!! My name is Sonya and I am a professional fine artist. My art journey began long long time ago, back when I was just a little girl in my home town of Kazanlak, Bulgaria. My earliest memories of drawing go back to 3rd or 4th grade. I remember many nights when, instead of watching television with my family, I would go to my room and draw anything and everything that would catch my eye.

My mom was a big art enthusiast and very talented, but unpursued, artist herself and she had many art books that I remember admiring. I would flip through the pages and lose myself in William Turner’s dynamic seascapes (my mom’s favorite) or marvel at the striking colors and detail of Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpieces (one of my many favorite Baroque artists). Ever since then, I was hooked! Art was going to be my thing!

Eventually, I applied to one of the few and one of the best specialized art high schools in Bulgaria, which luckily was located in my hometown, and was accepted there to study art with a specialization in the fine arts (painting and drawing). I spent only one year at the school, during which I learned how to master the pencil and eraser. Second year was going to be introduction to painting but that is when me and my family got the opportunity to move to the United States.

That was my very fist drastic life change and it was indeed a big one. Once I got to the US, life took off fairly quickly. I was 14 years old at the time, so adjusting to the new environment, even though hard, happened relatively fast. Right away I signed up for an art class, Drawing I, expecting to pick up where I left off back in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the class was not quite what I expected. I went in ready to show off my newly learned pencil strokes skills only to find out that it was more of a play around with color pencils type of a situation. That is, however, where I did my very first painting. The teacher of the class, Mr. Doug McKelly, once seen my skill level, would encourage me to try new things and not be afraid to be different from the rest….and so I did! While my peers were painting Sponge Bob Square Pants, I did a rendition of one of Renoir’s Flower Vase paintings and then another and another… He eventually advised me to sign up for upper-level art class, where I first tried and fell in love with oil paints.

Everything after that has been me pushing my limits further and further. From trying different styles, to different techniques, to different mediums. I pride myself in being open to try anything and everything.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am currently not bound to one particular style or medium. I’d like to think of it as going through my artistic exploration phase where I love to just experiment and see if and where my limits are, and then hopefully push past that point. I have to confess, however, that I have a particular fondness of oil painting. Most of my early paintings are landscapes done in oil and to this day, they still hold a dear place in my heart. Recently I have been exploring watercolors, the fluidity, and freedom of which I quite enjoy, even fabric painting on hats, shirts, dresses and so on.

I believe that to become a true artist, one needs to explore all the possible avenues before settling on one path. A great example, that I would encourage the readers to check out, is Pablo Picasso. Before finding his so famous Cubism style, and even after that, he goes through many different style changes which are categorized into different periods throughout his life. But it was that exploration of his own artistic boundaries that made him one of the most influential and well-known artists of the 20th century.

What I hope people would take away from my art and my story so far, is that freedom to be yourself and explore who that person is, whether that’s within one style or many or within one art form or more is what makes us true artists. As Henri Matisse has famously said, “Creativity takes courage”, and I hope that my creative journey of finding out who I am as an artist would inspire others to do the same.

Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
I think the biggest challenge facing artists today is getting noticed for all the hard work, skill and dedication they put into their art. In today’s social media powered world, art has lost its past grandeur and has become just another product that is just one click away. Not that I think easy access is a bad thing, but in a way it takes away from the beauty of learning about an artist and their process.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
For those of you who would like to see my work and check out all my different artistic experiments, as I like to call them, feel free to follow me on Instagram @petkova.sonya or on my Facebook page Sonya Petkova Art. Any of the art on there is for sale and I am available for private commissions. If you would like to be part of my journey and challenge me with a new artistic style or subject, just message me and let the boundary-pushing begin 🙂

Contact Info:

• Phone: (702)556-4027
• Email: sonya.petkova89@gmail.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/petkova.sonya/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/petkova.sonya/

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