About me

My name is Svetlomira Minkova – Encheva and here you can get a feeling of my art works.  I specialized in textiles, but I also love to experiment with all kinds of materials – oil on canvas, acrylic, dry pastels, ink, etc. My inspiration comes from the nature and the human body, as its greatest creation. I love painting nudes and landscapes, but also animals and portraits. There are amazing colors out there and I truly enjoy exaggerating them in my works.

I am a Bulgarian artist, born and raised in Sofia. In case you never heard about it, it is the home country of some great talents, among which Christo (Christo Yavashev), Vladimir Dimitrov (The Master), Zlatyu Boyadzhiev.

My first mentor in the field of art was Prof. Mito Ganovski, who prepared me for the National High School of Applied Arts. The professor taught me to never give up and to keep on painting no matter what. If it didn’t come out as I wanted, he’d simply tear my sketch apart and make me start all over. Later I met Iva Dimitrova, who introduced me to the amazing world of the textile art.

I later continued my education in the National Academy of Art. I earned my Bachelor Degree in Textiles in the class of the amazing Asadur Markarov, himself a student of the founder of Textile in Bulgaria, Marin Vurbanov. I continued with a Master’s Degree in Textile Art in the class of Prof. Anna Boyadjieva, the daughter of the great Hristo Boyadjiev.

My first thesis, „Transition“ consisted of 11 bilateral screen printings and a metal sculpture. The second one, „The silence of the aggression: Shut up!“ included 14 digital prints and video installation. Among others, some of the most inspiring teachers I met in the Academy, were Prof. Vihroni Popnedelev, and his wife Adelina Popnedeleva, PhD, Prof. Panayot Panayotov, and Cveta Yavasheva.

When I completed my education in 2011, I moved to Malaysia, together with my husband. During the six months we spent there, we visited Hong Kong, Phnom Penh, Lankgawi, Kuala Lumpur… Asia is amazing! The exotic colors, dynamic landscapes, peaceful beaches, massive temples, wild animals – it was a dream come true to live and paint there. Even today, much of my works are still inspired by this experience.

In the recent years, I have also started experimenting with jewelry. It is a learning process I am still trying to find my style in the field. In the meantime, I mastered graphic design. I worked as a freelancer for various publishing houses. I also spent some months with Theater „Sofia“, where I was a graphic designer and took care of the visual representation of the plays. After I left the theatre, I joined the crew of the TV show „No luggage“, where I also took care of the prints and adverts. It was a real pleasure to work together with those adventurers.

In January 2016, my baby boy was born. In March 2018 my baby girl was barn. And while they keeps me rather occupied for a great deal of my time, they also teaches me this brand-new perspective on the amazingness of the abundant life around us. The infant way of discovering every little stone and every blooming grass, is just the same as I love to create nature on my canvas.

Enjoy browsing through the galleries on my web site. I’d love to hear what you think about my works.