Svetoslava Todorova is the winner of the July Challenge 'Mystical,
Mythical and Magical Creatures'. We asked her to tell us a bit about
herself.
See all the beautiful original submissions!
Check out Svetoslava's Shop
First of all I would like to express my gratitude to all Team members for being so kind with me and to beg for forgiveness - English is not my native and if there is something unusual, please be lenient.
I've been born in ancient town Plovdiv - the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe.
Plovdiv is a beautiful small town in central Bulgaria. Its unusual very eventful history has left many valuable architectural monuments - Ancient Theatre, Roman Stadium, the Renaissance complex "Old Town" etc.
I love my hometown and where do I lived in the world, I always go back with love and warm memories of this little romantic place under the sun - home to many artists, musicians, writers ...
Now I'm living in London with my beloved family.
I finished my education with two master's degrees - Master of Music in Pedagogy and Performance - Classical piano.
Although I no longer practice my profession as a musician, for me the classical music will remain forever a fundamental and very important part of my life. I can't do anything without music - whether working or resting, there is always music. Very often through music I manage to visualize my ideas.
Long, long ago, as a child in the home of my grandmother I found an antique beaded bracelet, belonged to one of my ancestors. The bracelet was in poor condition and my grandmother told me that was made sometime in the 18th century. That was my first encounter with beads. But it all started decades later.
One day, three years ago, surfing the net, I came across a very beautiful necklace of beads. The author was Albena Petkova. Now I know that it is one of the most prominent masters, but then for me it was a miracle. So I started to follow the work of the beadweaving artists .
Actually I started working with beads at the beginning of this year. The start, of course was hard - did not know and could not anything. But it was so interesting and curious how a pile of beads can be obtained such amazing things. That is all. My curiosity turned into love, love has become a passion.
For me, as for every artist the greatest challenge is his latest work. I am a huge lover of Fine art. Currently I try to reproduce series of necklaces, borrowed from the paintings of Renaissance artists.
The challenge here is that a different material must achieve a similar effect. The exceptional skill of old masters in working with shade and their approach to detail for me has always been something special and difficult, because the paint must be replaced with beads.
The are three artists with very special part in my heart: Albena Petkova, Joanne Zammit and Nadia Gerber. Three different artists, three different styles, emotions, approaches to the material.
Lately I'm trying to build my own online shop: luckydesign.co.uk/, but it is not finished yet.
Warm hugs to all
Svetoslava/Sveti/
