Holding all the cards
Painter, photographer, graphic designer and greetings card designer – Soula Zavacopoulos is a one-woman creative studio. Jim Clayton meets Ealing’s Queen of Arts
Above: Soula Zavacopoulos
These are exciting times for Soula Zavacopoulos. The award-winning Ealing designer’s first range of Valentine’s Day cards has been snapped up by Paperchase and she has contracts in place to supply other card collections to Tesco and Marks & Spencer. And funky greetings cards are not the only string to Soula’s bow: she is also in demand as a commercial graphic designer and as a fine artist and photographer.
I can’t help wondering how Soula finds enough hours in the day to sustain such a hive of activity? She laughs: ‘Well, it is a juggling act. But I don’t just want to be someone who designs cards. I love fine art and graphics – and that’s why I’m trying to do everything.’ In fact, the initial move into the competitive world of greetings cards came about more by chance than planning. ‘When I was exhibiting at art shows people would come up and ask if I had any cards,’ Soula explains. ‘I hadn’t considered it! So I printed up a few with examples of my art and they sold out. Then I did the same with my photographs and, again, the response was excellent. So I thought, this is cool, this is something that I should really think about getting into.’
Selling cards at exhibitions may have been a natural progression from Soula’s other artistic endeavours, but there’s a world of difference between that and being signed up by a flagship retailer such as Paperchase. It certainly suggests the presence of keen business acumen behind the creative flair. ‘I realised it would be difficult to get into the big stores,’ she admits with a smile. ‘But I’m ambitious. That’s where I want to be. So I just kept phoning and emailing the buyers – obviously they’re incredibly busy – and trying to persuade them to look at my work. If I didn’t get a reply, I just persevered! In the end, Paperchase bought my Love Notes collection for this year’s Valentine’s Day. I’ll also have cards in Tesco next year and I’ve had some really positive feedback from Tiger Print, which is part of Hallmark, the company that supplies cards for M&S.’
Soula is Ealing born and bred – she attended Beacon House on Gunnersbury Lane and St Augustines on Hanger Hill and now lives in West Ealing – and only moved out of W5 to study Graphic Design at Kingston University. Prior to that she took a foundation course in Art and Design at Richmond College and, even then, her commercial sensibility was evident. ‘I was majoring in Fine Art but I wanted to do graphics. My tutor asked: “Why do you want to do that?” I said: “I might end up penniless as an artist!” Graphics was more vocational and I thought it would help me to get a job. Actually, I ended up loving graphic design and I don’t think that I made the wrong decision.’
Having graduated, Soula joined a multi-disciplinary agency where she worked on the marketing, advertising and branding of major accounts such as Reuters, BBC and ITV. After almost five years’ invaluable experience, she decided to launch her own one-woman business and Soula Fine Art and Design was born. ‘I thought, well, if it doesn’t work out I can always go back to an agency. I really wanted to have control over my work and to be able to devote more time to art and photography as well as to graphic design.’
Soula accepts private, corporate and charitable art commissions and specialises in transforming the ambience of a space. ‘I love working with colour, texture and form and my paintings are bold, evocative and have a definite feeling. Most importantly, I want to create affordable art because I think it should be enjoyed in the home, not just in galleries. There are just so many benefits from having art around; paintings can definitely change the atmosphere of a room or office for the better and that’s what I like to do.’
Soula’s photographic collections are equally striking, in particular the True London series of black-and-white shots of the metropolis and the Botanical Collection of stunning close-up images of flowers. And she has a typically clear vision of what she wants to achieve. ‘I’m very interested in perception and what you actually see. Quite often the brain fills in half a scene for you. A lot of my photography is about capturing what people miss, or framing it in a different way. The Botanical Collection is a good example of that because normally we just don’t notice the fine details of flowers and plants.’
With so much success on so many artistic fronts, it remains to be seen whether Soula will be able to continue her juggling act or be forced to specialise. But certainly, if passion and determination have anything to do with it, you wouldn’t bet against her.
For more information and to view examples of Soula’s work visit www.soula.uk.com