Dear friend,
Welcome to my personal website!
Since I am a genuine person I want to share how one big dream came true. A dream which, thanks to my daughter, reinvigorated my spirits and filled my whole heart with inspiration and hope. A dream that is now part of my own reality.
This is the story of one girl who wanted to become an artist.
Everything started when I was just at the age of 14. It was then when I made up my mind – I wanted to get the needed qualification to apply for an Art school. Unfortunately, this preparation continued for two months. Afterwards, the following events happened quickly. The year was 1986, 7th December to be even more historically accurate, when a destructive earthquake shook my hometown Strajitsa. The aftermath was chaotic and definitely devastating for many people who have just witnessed how the house they have invested in has turned into a big pile of bricks.
My sister and I had to move to Stara Zagora and leave everything behind – not only our past, but our parents, who we could visit only during the holidays. We lived together with our cousins, aunt and uncle, who took great care of us all, but losing our real home was a traumatic experience.
After the school year ended we returned back to Strajitsa. We spent a whole year living in a caravan in the middle of the street among the remains of our house. I spent my whole summer drawing under our old small canopy (at least when the weather allowed it). The art schools, which accepted students after 7th grade, were a few. We checked the entry requirements in Sofia, Kazanlak and Sliven. The entry exam in Sliven was the most convenient one, but before that I decided to sign up for a 10-day preparatory course.
In the day of the exam was announced that there were 13 candidates “fighting” for one free place left. As you may already suspect, I was not part of the accepted students.
The years went by… I finished high school, went to university, graduated and then… I met my husband to whom I have been happily married for 20 years with two kids.
My love for creating things with the help of my imagination, a brush in one hand and a palette of colours in the other came back to me when our daughter started getting extra lessons with a tutor. It was not long when I joined her too. After acquiring some knowledge on different art techniques my husband and I rented a place where I moved to create my own atelier.
And now… I present you my virtual studio.
Every single painting is made with lots of love, patience and diligence!
No matter how trivial this might sound, trust me, dreams come true, as long as you truly believe in them!
I am thankful to all the people who supported me through my journey during those years and convinced me that if you really want to succeed, firstly you have to believe in yourself!
Sincerely yours, Sonya Hinova