Meet Dasha

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dasha.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Born in Minsk, Belarus and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. I picked up my first charcoal at age 17. I experimented with micro-line pen and watercolor at 23. 24 brought on an interest in Adobe Illustrator. Now, at 27, I just want to create what comes to mind and bring a smile to someone’s face no matter the media, and I hope it comes across to the kind folks who follow me.

I have been working in tech since graduating with a Ba in Finance at Gsu in 2014, but since finding my passion for the creative, on top of my full-time job, I also manage my etsy shop, create new pieces to submit to shows, and try to maintain an online presence while finding freelance work. It’s a lot to balance, but the chaos keeps me going, and drives me towards my goal of focusing on illustrating full-time.

Please tell us about your art.
There are two faces to my artwork, but one word can describe both: whimsical. I have always been inspired by my love for sci fi and fantasy storytelling. I think it’s the most fantastic thing in the world to bring a reader into another world with just words, and it’s kind of what I want to accomplish with my artwork.

On one hand I love using simple lines with subtle watercolor to create a gentle, peaceful, fantastic sense of wonder. And then I flip a switch and love bold and solid images when I create using digital designs which lets me get more of my sci-fi aesthetics out.

When looking at both my watercolors and then my graphic illustrations, both have that childish innocence. I think I really love how not technical the illustrations and doodles are and allows the mind to kind of relax and just look at the story behind the image.

I want the audience to look at my work and to have never seen anything like it, I want them to look at one of my images and make up their own idea of what the purpose is- pulling from their memories and coming up with a story as they might have when they were kids.

Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
I have always struggled with this, and I definitely don’t think I have it completely figured out yet, but I have learned to balance choosing projects vs creating work for myself and then working a full-time job to be able to afford my passion.

At the end of the day, I’m very busy and at times overwhelmed, but as soon as I complete a project or commission I feel super accomplished and lucky that I am able to do this and build on myself in hopes of doing this full time in the future.

Some people choose to quit their day job and focus on building their profiles and focus on art, and man, I wish I could do the same but I live in EAV and just got a new puppy, Dobby, so I’m going to keep working as hard as I can during my free time to be able to keep going

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I mostly keep up with my IG @dashaflowerhead and have been selling some custom one-line drawings and prints on my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlowerHeadPrints?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

I am also about to completely re-do my website where people can see what I’m all about and even buy prints. I will have a picture book out soon that I will be selling on Amazon and my site dashalebedev.com

Contact Info:

• Website: dashalebedev.com
• Phone: 7707127714
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dashaflowerhead/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dlebedev

Image Credit:
Dasha Lebedev

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