Getting to Know Sofia Goldberg

I’m Sofia. It is okay to call me “Miss Goldberg” or Lady Sofia. I’m redhaired, blue-eyed metalhead lady. I love cats. My hobbies: Gothic dances, metal music CD & merch collecting, and nature photography.

When did I first become interested in art? – In my age 1.5 year (I started to draw when I was 1.5 year old and never stopped since that. I draw all my life long!

The style of art I use most is realism. I use varied techniques from pencil drawings to bead embroidery, but all my artworks style is: Realism. I draw realistic pics, in realistic style.

I add more and more different techniques to long list of my art techniques and styles.

I use varied medium. Watercolor, pencils, acrylic, beadwork, markers, digital art, photography, macrame, and many others.  I choose medium only by my mood and inspiration.

Art ideas – only from my life. I worked on space-based projects – so many artworks I have are about space. I love flowers, cats and good food. Some of my art is about it. I’m dancer, model, designer. Some artworks about it.

To create artwork, it may take from 1 minute (my shortest record) to 8 weeks (my longest record) It depends on style and media used for it. It takes 3-8 weeks to complete bead embroidery painting. To create pencil drawing – 15-35 minutes. To create acrylic-on-canvas painting – 1-4 days.

I don’t make sketches for my artworks. I do sketches only for custom dance costume designs, for my customers. On some of videos on my YouTube channel, I show how I created artwork from scratch, from empty canvas. I mean dog portrait beadwork and peacock beadwork.

In my house, I have special room to use as art studio. Since my childhood, I had personal, very-special place where I can sit and draw. We had 11-rooms house in my hometown.

In almost every interview, people ask me about an artist, dead or alive, whom I want to meet. I know, most of them expect to hear about world-famous artists. But I want to met my grandpa’s grandpa, professional jewellery designer. Making gold jewellery with diamonds is an art. His creations in a lot of private collections around the world now, even if many were lost during WW2.

One of my most-favorite paintings I’ve made is lotus flower from pics attached above. I’m lady, and it is normal to love flowers. Even if I’m metalhead girl.

I was wonder child (in my age 3, I was able to read newspapers, books and my dad’s university law study books, then in my age 12 I have done 4 scientific projects and created over 350 artworks for my 1^st personal art exposition in hometown.  I’m single. My beloved died in car accident 21 years ago.  I have never met anyone same handsome, lovely and great soul. He called me “Metal Queen” and he was true American patriot, Army veteran, and a nice guy who had Ferrari.

How much time I spend on artwork to have it completed – it depends on style and media. Beadwork art is most hard-to-make so it takes 3-8 weeks to create it. I’m business lady, and because of coronavirus mandates my business had loss of buyers, I had to work hard so I had no time to draw artworks or do bead embroidery. Pencil drawings can be done within 15 minutes. One I completed within minute. That is a pic of two palm trees you can find in folder on my FAA gallery.

My opinion on criticism? – I hate it very much! People who critique me, should remember that making enemies is easy, but making friends takes long time. I never forgive or forget those who says negative about my art, my mom or me. I sure that all who says negative about my art or me are 100% wrong because they did not live my life, they know nothing about my soul, so they cannot say truth about my art when they say bad things about my art or me.

I met lots of haters who harassed me on social network, online marketplaces, etc. I block haters from contacting me. I block all who says or do something negative against me or my art.
When artwork is done – it is done. Usually I have ideas to create art similar to what I’ve done even half-hour ago. Fashion collection is usually 35-50 designs. So when collection is done, other designs go to next collection, even if I created more than 50 designs. Because there is limits of 50.

I had exhibits in galleries – 35 exhibitions in my homeland before moving to US. And then some exhibitions here and aboard, starting from 2005.  Very often, people ask me about my future plans. I want to make my art exhibitions in many galleries and museums, but according my family traditions, I cannot tell names of those galleries before signing all documents and having data of exposition.

I currently working on bead embroidery art series, 5 pics at same time. And flower drawings series.

What was the best advice given to me as an artist? What advice would I give new artists? – None. Nobody gave me any useful advice, so I cannot give anything to others. It is impossible to give what you don’t have, right?

What I think about the internet as way artists can get known now? Does internet make infringement easier? With internet, it becomes harder to become known. Because many people pay for YouTube views, likes on Facebook and Instagram. As result, their pics on top. Almost nobody sees my art there because I cannot afford to spend thousand dollars on promotion on social networks.

I noticed that online art competitions always have fake votes, where author makes fake accounts to vote for his/her art and ask family members and friends to vote for him/her.

I noticed that a lot of people began copy my art ideas and post as their own, but their quality of art is worse. For example, I created 30-inch diameter beaded space galaxy painting. I listed it on Etsy and Ebay for sale. In a month, people began to list similar galaxy beadworks but 3–7-inch diameter. Then, when I’ve sold my green peacock beadwork for $6000, people began to copy idea and make their peacock art like me. Also, when I listed about 3 dozen of space language text art that I done based on my ufology-based project, people began copy my art ideas and post as own. The difference between me and them is that they cannot read anything that they wrote in those texts, because they never studied history of ancient civilizations. They copied letters without knowledge how to read those signs.

Once, 4 eBay sellers stole my designs and photos that I made and used my pics for selling their products. I contacted eBay and those 4 dishonest ones were deleted from eBay.

My mom supports me in everything. She is best mom in history of human civilization on Planet Earth. She worked as art school creative director and professor (in our homeland). My family wished that I became an attorney or bookkeeper or doctor. I decided to go my way and became artist, fashion designer, business lady. I have done dozens of scientific reposts and projects (astronomy, astrophysics, biochemistry) But science did not give me same money as I make from selling women’s fashions and dancewear. In 2005, my mom & I started our business: Ameynra company, here in Los Angeles. Videos about my beautiful mom Sarah Goldberg (Sarah Super Long Hair

I never learned anything from courses. I attended art school for just 2 months, in my age 10. It was very boring to create art without inspiration, by demand from instructor. I had no inspiration to draw still-life that is given by instructor, and not chosen by me. I had no inspiration to draw fairy tale characters from story that instructor decided to use. I wished to draw something about science, space or biochemistry, not a character from some fairy tale.

I stopped education in art school, in two month, even if instructor told I was great , talented student. It actually gave me nothing. When I need to learn some techniques, I use internet to find instructions. It only needs practice to learn something.

Please subscribe on my YouTube channel & social network pages!
https://www.instagram.com/sofia_metal_queen/
https://www.youtube.com/c/sofiametalqueen
https://www.facebook.com/SofiaMetalQueen

I live in Los Angeles, California