Sotir Davidhi: Meet the Artist
I am a full-time muralist living in Grand Rapids, MI. I was born in Albania, a small Mediterranean country, north of Greece, west of former Yugoslavia, and east of Italy. My great passion for art started the moment he saw a mesmerizing world in my first grade ABC book. This led me to get a high school diploma in art and theatrical set design in Albania. Years later, I got an art degree from Aquinas College in my current hometown. My artistic style has been influenced by impressionism, tromp l’oeil, and theatrical set design that I combine to create beautiful site specific murals around Michigan and beyond.
Q: How did you get involved with Lions and Rabbits?
A: The Grand Rapids location of Sandy Point Beach House restaurant had a very long, concrete wall in the back side of the store, visible from the main road, and in desperate need of transformation, and I heard about it on social media through an open call posted by Lions and Rabbits. I submitted a site-specific mural design, a beach scene inspired by Petoskey area of Lake Michigan, and the customers liked the idea, and loved the actual mural.
Q: Run us through your creative process: Medium? How do you start, flow and finish?
A: When a potential customer contacts me, I ask to meet at the mural site and encourage them to express any mural ideas they might have, and if they do not have one, we figure it out through an open and very friendly conversation with lots of candid questions, but nothing written on a paper. By the end of the meeting, we all feel like we know each other for years. Later, I follow up with a couple of sketches for their feedback, make the possible adjustments, and when the design, cost, and timeline are approved, the mural process follows. It starts with the preparation of the wall. Cleaning it very well, priming, and top coating, prior to starting the mural is very important for the lifespan of the mural. To increase the durability chances, I use only the highest quality of latex exterior paint that is resistant to dirt, moister, fade, and extreme weather temperatures, to ensure that my work has the longest lifespan possible. The manufacturer does not suggest a clear coat protection, but sometimes I do use a clear, anti-graffiti coat.
Q: What themes/ideas are highlighted in your work? Intentions?
A: All my work is site-specific, and besides beautifying a wall space, flowing with the architectural building elements, and the surrounding area, it satisfies the customers’ needs, promotes their business, and brings a smile to the viewer when looking at it. I love creating a happy atmosphere in my work, and I achieve that with all kinds of brush marks, in every direction to create a movement a glowing light, and an emotional connection with the viewer. These brush strokes create all kinds of abstract shapes when observed from close up, and they get vanished from further away, which makes the viewers’ experience more interesting. Also, I love using a true perspective to open up and extend a physical space and create a three-dimensional trompe l'oeil feel. Creating such an illusion throughout a room with 90 degrees corners is very challenging to keep a continues straight horizon line as in the natural world when viewed from a real window, and I achieve that by changing each brush mark direction at those corners, and to better understand that, please pay close attention to the Yes Bay Lodge that I did for the Armstrong International inc. in Three Rivers, Michigan. When the project was done, my client gave this feedback, “I would definitely recommend Sotir! When our former CEO and owner, Gus Armstrong, passed away I called Sotir to help us out with decorating a meeting room and give it the feel of an Alaska vacation place where Gus spent all his summers with family and employees. I wanted to replicate the Lodge and the outside landscape. Sotir truly immersed himself in our culture and family stories, and it resulted in stunning murals that truly represent the soul of the place. Thanks, Sotir for your passion and endless hours on this project!” Patricia, Three Rivers, MI
Q: Can you share more about how your career as an artist began?
A: I was lucky to realize my passion and what I wanted to do in my life when I finished middle school. To be accepted into an art high school, I had to pass two required art competitions. I was one of the 29 lucky ones to be accepted. Four years later I received a diploma in painting and theatrical set design. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, Albania was no longer an isolated, totalitarian system country, and I joined thousands of desperate for help Albanian immigrants to neighboring Greece. To secure the daily needs, in Athens, I did different jobs, like painting houses, serving, and cooking at a seafood restaurant, while pursuing my dream by painting business signs, commercial and residential murals, portraits, etc.
Q: What mistakes have you made? What obstacles have you encountered throughout your career as an artist?
A: My mistake was that I was not more decisive to pursue my dream. I had allowed some reasonable droughts to hold me back, for example, many people had been complimenting my paintings and at the same time asking me to paint a landscape or a portrait for them free of charge, while no one ever asked to paint a room for free. This was giving more and more emphasis to the Starving Artist’s expression, and it was very hurtful. Sometimes I thought that God might have cursed me with such a gift, and as a result, when I came to Grand Rapids to continue my education, I went first for web design, switched to graphic design, marketing, and finally went back to art. You see, I was lucky to figure out my gift early on, but it took a little too long to truly embrace the God-given gift, but I am still very thankful for all that life experience because it made me who I am today.
Q: Who/what are your biggest inspirations that play a key role in your work?
A: They are so many of the artists that I love and admire. The first inspiring artist was Rembrandt, then came Vincent Van Gough, Paul Gauguin, Michelangelo, William J. Turner, John S. Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Wayne Thiebaud, Richard Diebenkorn, and many, many more.
Located at Sparrows Coffee at their Kingma’s Market location. Grand Rapids, MI
Q: Do you feel supported by your community as an artist? In what ways could you feel more supported?
A: I really put all I have into what I do, and the community feels that and responds positively to my work. Also, I focus on building a long relationship with my customers, and they keep supporting me whenever there is a chance. "...more supported"? For me, it is much easier to communicate directly in person with the customer, that way I know exactly what the needs are, and the end result is an absolute satisfaction.
Q: What is the function of artists in society? What does being an artist mean to you?
A: Art has been with humanity since the beginning of time. There are magnificent drawings in total dark caves, like the one in the Alps of France, where the artist was crawling to get into a bigger space and draw a beautiful hunting scene. For me, it means everything, literary. I am still as excited, silly, and funny as I was the first time I opened my first grade's ABC book, that was my first book ever.
Q: Describe a moment when you felt most proud of yourself
A: The first time ever was when I copied a buss image from my ABC book in first grade. I was amazed by what I did and I never forgot that, and never stopped drawing ever since.
Q: What are you currently working on or looking forward to?
A: The dream goes on. ArtPrize is going to have my name placed somewhere. I take a day at a time. Keep searching, learning, and trying to find the next projects.
Q: BONUS: If you could choose any superpower, what would it be?🦸🏻♀️⚡️🌀
A: "You can afford losing one eye, but you can't afford losing your name" - Albanian proverb.
Follow more of Sotir’s work on https://www.muralbydesign.com and instagram.com/muralbydesign
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