I was already married and had my three children when my husband, who works in the chemical industry, had an opportunity to be expatriated eight years ago. We chose to start a new life in the United States. Before leaving Europe, I worked in the Chemical industry too as a communications manager.
Photography and painting were only a hobby that I reserved for my private circle. I had explored many aspects of art, tried many techniques, from my childhood and up to university. I liked having this secret garden for my first forty years.
When I arrived in America, a new lifestyle was opened to me, and I knew deep inside myself that things would completely change.
Definitively, my new lifestyle impacted my vision of my life and I no longer wanted to project my professional career in the same way. Step by step I took this opportunity to manage my art and spend more time on my it. I admit that that period of my life was not easy and I wanted to give up many times. Each time I got some good news or made any achivements, it gave me the strenght I needed to continue on my journey.
The world of art is very complicated and strewn with pitfalls. Many questions about galleries, exhibition, business, supplies...came to me. I realized that being a professional artist means managing different subjects. It was an aspect of this work I had never imagined before.
People around me who spoke about art as a dream or quiet life more than a real work (in French "artist fleur bleue") thought wrong!
Becoming an artist is an huge journey. Beyond studies, being an artist is a fact and it’s a part of your ‘interior’.
Eight months after my arrival, my first exhibition in Princeton (New Jersey) convinced me to continue in this direction. It’s how it all started. I met people who encouraged me and lead me on my artistic path. When I think about my first years as an artist, I remember how some people had been so kind and benevolent. They helped me overcome my difficulties, one after the other. My husband and my kids were my favorite allies during this time and they still are always here for me to this day.
As much as any other business, certain encounters are decisive and strategic. I was lucky because I met the right people to work by my side. Their generosity and dynamic have made who and what I am today in my art and I cannot thank them enough.
The United States are also the land where everything is possible. This country gives you this incredible gift: the idea and opportunity for you to become anyone and anything you wish to be, not matter where you come from. I knew that I took it completely.
I can say that I am proud of myself. I am proud of all the challenges I overcame. I have a lot of work left to do, a lot of growth, but I have overcame a big step in my life and in my mind.
"Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there's more growing to be done."
Michelle OBAMA
I am a born artist and also a professional artist.
By Carole Jury, Artist
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