Cloe Nicolaidi 

I was born in 1981 in Athens of Greece. Since i could remember myself i was always deep in colours, pencils, crafts, scissors and in whatever craft I could get my hands on for forgetting the -in my childhood eyes- so boring reality! 

The permanent complain of the teachers “a bright kid but she needs  to stop drawing all the time and start studying a bit, if she wants to pass this school year ”.

The only lessons I was ever excited about were music, art, psychology and philosophy with near perfect grades, in controversy to all the other  “you are doomed” grades.

Well...you know the artistic child when you see one!

 

Always a restless spirit, i was continually in the search for an artistic involvement only to find myself running, after a while, for the next exciting thing.

So, a jack-of-all-trades was created! Among many other, i attended architectural design for 1 year and freehand drawing courses in Belntekos cram school for 2 years. At "Vakalo school of art" i attended interior design courses for 3 years. Worked as an insurane broker for 4 and half years and got my broker license. 

Later on, my acting worm decided it needed its share of attention.

So i started having acting courses at "Theatro tis Mesogeiou" and "Athinaiki Skini" for 2 years and some private lessons with actress Maria Aliferi.

During this period, i volunteered at TRAG (Therapeutic Riding Association of Greece) and had my basic training in horse keeping, something I absolutely  love and hope to continue my training in this field someday.

And last but not least, I volunteer at the Greek Transgendered Support Association (ΣΥΔ) since December of 2013, fighting for the rights of the most oppressed minority group.

 

Since childhood i always knew i was different. Tried but in the end I could never fit in. I am not meant to. So I listen to that and try on my own to make my living as pleasant as I can. And as a Greek saying goes “Learn an art and let it go and when you get hungry remember it again”, i’m doing exactly that.

Doing what I do best and what I like best.

Creating.

 

It all started with the idea of painting T-shirts but soon this idea expanded to other ideas. And those other ideas to other ideas and so on. If you are an artist yourself you will perfectly understand this pattern of the ever present need to expand your art skills and knowledges. It is really something out of  your control and i suppose it was always intented to be this way! So the t-shirt painting brought the decoration of glass products and the making and decoration of candles. Naturally there are many other artiez i will put my hands on but all in good time. After all we only have 24 hours at our disposal! 

 

In the end, money rule us and that’s the most depressing thing to live with. Imagine if all the people did what they love instead of just trying to survive, doing what others want them to, in exchange for our paper god. What a happier place would it be to live in. So, I step on that and I say “change what you don’t like”, even if it’s hard. At least, in the end of the day, you will have won your life the way you like it to be.

Recipe for happiness?

Find what you love. Chase it. Never give up!