Silvia was born in Bulgaria in 1970 and was awarded a place at the prestigious School of Applied Arts, Troyan, at the age of thirteen. She graduated six years later with a Diploma in Applied Arts and a teaching qualification.

She then studied icon painting in Sofia under the grand master of Bulgarian icons, Georgi Tchouchev, and was invited to exhibit in Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, amongst the elite group of icon painters.

In 1999, a commission from Downside Abbey, near Bath, to paint an icon of St Benedict brought Silvia to England. After completion of this, she worked as artist-in-residence at Wells Cathedral and in 2000 she was commissioned to paint the Fourteen Stations of the Cross as a millennium project. During this time she was nominated and shortlisted for the European Woman of the Year Award for contributions to the arts.

And so the first eight interpretative paintings ended up on our gallery walls last December. Six were sold and the two unsold paintings were hung with four others at ART 2002 in January. They were all sold by the end of the first day.

Throughout this year, Silvia has concentrated on working on a larger scale than in her early paintings. There is, of course, so much detail in this painstakingly executed work that very large paintings are probably out of the question but there is a significant increase in the overall scale. All of her paintings are egg tempera on wood, the traditional medium of the iconographer, and often incorporate liberal amounts of gold leaf.

At thirty two, there can be no doubt that Silvia Dimitrova has a wonderful career ahead of her. The interest expressed ahead of this exhibition is indicative of a very successful first solo exhibition, and this would be no less than this highly talented artist deserves. From the triptych 'Wedding' to the small portrait 'Bride', every painting in this exhibition is a joy.

Ian Courcoux

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