Ah, the life of an artist. Painting at dawn, having your own art studio where you can release all your emotions, turning life experiences into beautiful art and being praised for it. It paints a nice picture. But what is it really like to be an artist in Cyprus today?
Souzana Petri is a 28-year-old ceramicist with a studio in Old Nicosia. Her crafts are not the usual ceramics as she generally steers clear of the typical clay creations of bowls, mugs and plates, concentrating instead on ceramic art pieces that can be used as wall art, home décor or simply artwork.
“I’m not a really domestic ceramicist,” she said. “I use clay in order to create art. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to be a production line ceramicist, even though sometimes I do it. But I like each piece to be different, to have a new life.”
Finishing 3D Design and Craft at the University of Brighton she dropped her original plan of becoming a jewellery designer when she discovered the therapeutic characteristics of working with clay. “I’m really anxious as a person,” she confessed and found ceramics calmed her down. Once she specialised in ceramics and metals, Souzana decided to work on Cypriot pottery and history, bringing a bit of her own culture to England.
Today, her artwork is still inspired by Cypriot tradition, blending them with more modern characteristics, sending messages about society. That’s why many of her pieces include words written on them; a way for the artist to make the viewer feel what she is feeling at the time of creation.
Since she opened her studio in 2016 just off Ermou Street it has grown and she now find the challenge to balance creating as an artist and running a business as a solo entrepreneur.
It was a difficult start as her business knowledge was almost zero. Choose a job you love, the saying goes and you won’t have to work a day in your life. That proved to be far from the truth. “Turning what you love into a business,” I once read, “involves being good at a business.” There’s a lot more to it than simply loving what you do.
“What I find most difficult at the moment,” Souzana said, “is that you are the creator, the maker, responsible for the logistics, the advertising, the photography and so on. You’re doing a bit of everything and it needs a massive focus every day to do them because everything depends on you.
“To be good at what you do is very important, but if you don’t know how to sell it, it doesn’t work. So, in a way, I have to work more on my business side and I see myself more as a businesswoman trying to create, sell and run a business because… it is a business. Even if some people think, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky, you’re just painting.’ Not at all.”
So, are the artists who are successful extremely good at business or is their work just that good? “Being only artistic is not going to help you. You have to know how to sell those pieces and talk with clients. Even if you have the most amazing paintings, crafts, ceramics but you’re not working on your business side, your marketing… it’s not going to happen.” That said, she added that artists need to know their work and have complete faith in their art.
No matter how bumpy her start was, and even when the business work drowns out the creativity, Souzanna feels grateful to do what she loves and to be able to live off it. It’s not been easy, she says, but she always remains determined to make it work. And this is something she advises many aspiring artists.
“To be brave,” she stated, “and not scared of failing.” Before an interest in ceramic art arose in recent years, her profession seemed a strange one. “Where are you going to find a job with this thing that you’ve studied?” people asked her. “If you’re waiting for something to happen or to find you, it’s not going to happen. You have to make it happen.”
How? To contact galleries, to find European funding and programmes, to work with big organisations and so on. This go-get attitude led Souzana to work with institutions such as the Cultural Foundation of the Bank of Cyprus, the Archaeology Department of the University of Cyprus and even the Ministry of Education.
Find Souzana’s work on Instagram and Facebook @SouzanaPetriCrafts Ermou Street 272 H, Nicosia. Tel: 99-187186
