Connections I (2015) Painting by Silvana Klaric

I was born in Eastern Europe, in a beautiful coastal city in Croatia, where I lived my first 33 years.For as long as I remember, I wanted to be an artist. To become one, I needed to beat the various odds and remove obstacles thrown my way, and there were many. My parents thought that a life of an artist was too arduous and offered a slim possibility of success, even more for a woman. They vehemently disagreed when I proposed studying art and pursuing an artistic career. Instead, to the Academy of Art, they sent me to the Classical gymnasium and hoped I would study Law afterwards. I rebelled. I wouldn't study, and my grades were terrible. 

My father couldn't take the embarrassment, so he made me drop out of school. The same year he divorced my mother, and she ended up in a mental institution. She was bipolar and suffered from mania and depression her entire life. Any time she would go through stressful periods, she would land in a psychiatric hospital. Her mental illness and my father's abandonment and disinterest marked my life. 

I never received support or encouragement to pursue my artistic goals, and I fought tooth and nail for my right to do what I felt was my calling. 

I emigrated to Italy in 1989, two years before the horrendous civil war shook my country.In 1995 I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had surgery and radiation. The surgery and radiation helped, but I wouldn't have survived without art. I started painting on glass, copying readymade patterns, convinced I had lost my artistic talent. Slowly, slowly I built my skills back and started to create my own art.

In 2009 at the age of 50, I emigrated to Canada. In 2013 I graduated with honours from the Fine Arts Faculty in Toronto, finally calling myself an artist. Although I was one all the while, now, I had 'a proof.' 

My art is my sweet OCD, and I can't live without it. My art is also my antidepressant. It lifts me up when I am feeling down. Luckily, I have stopped listening to the voices from my childhood that told me I would never succeed. What is a success after all? Art makes me happy, and it makes people that like it happy, and that is all that counts. 

I love exploring. I painted on wood, glass, paper, leather, and canvas and recently decided to explore the world of digital art. The more I do art, the more I become brave in my artistic adventures, and I love this feeling. I paint with a full-on feeling, and nothing holds me back anymore. Unafraid, I adventure into new mediums and exploration of new themes.

• Nationality: CROATIA
• Date of birth : 1958
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Croatian Contemporary Artists