My name is Sophia Anastasia; I earn my income as a painter and illustrator.
During art academy in Arnhem, Holland, 1980-1984, I cycled from Gouda to Damascus and hitchhiked all over Europe and Turkey.
In 1984 I hitchhiked to Nepal, cycled from Bangkok to Singapore, then lived for one year in Singapore and eventually settled in Bali where I lived for 14 years.
I surfed, painted, printed t-shirts, regularly travelled to Australia, made friends and had a relationship with film maker Lorne Blair.
with whom I had a daughter. Sadly Lorne passed away shortly after our daughter's second birthday.
I continued living in Bali but was confronted with numerous difficulties regarding single parenthood and finances. Despite my relatively luxurious life and many friends I decided to go back to Holland.
I returned to Holland in 2000 with a new boyfriend, moved to my hometown Utrecht, was left pregnant and had a son.
Two kids as a single mother and a new life to build in Holland was not always easy, especially since I was determined to rebuild my career as a painter.
To complicate things further, my daughter was homesick for Bali.
We lived on a very low income and my children insisted I'd find a 'normal job'.
Even though I offered my work to many galleries, they were not interested.
At some point income got so low that I had to rely on welfare.
If galleries were not going to represent me, I needed to find other ways to sell my work so I started to become active on the social media and learned about building websites.
In 2009 I did an interior-design course specifically aimed at restyling for selling property.
At the Red Cross I did volunteer work in a thrift-store.
The breakthrough came when someone suggested I'd paint the Dom Tower (Utrecht) which I posted on Facebook which generated a lot of likes and got sold.
Meanwhile social security demanded I'd give up painting so then I gave up social security.
Really, it meant a lower income but I was used to living on a small budget.
By now my children are 20 and 27 years old and I can fully dedicate my time to my art.
However, when someone asks me how much time it takes me to paint a painting, it includes cleaning my studio, updating my website, photographing my work, hosting open studio days, everything.
