Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bayda Asbridge. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Bayda, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I got my resilience from the hardships I went through in my life, and I am still standing. I grew up in the Middle East where women treated as second class citizens. My first marriage was very abusive that made consider ending my life, but then I got a scholarship to come to the US. I think of the day I landed in America in August 1994 as my real birthday, I was twenty-nine. I never went home since. After being under a man’s control all my life in what to say, how to dress, how to act in society, and to represent the honor or a man. Suddenly, I started to learn about myself and who I really am. It was a discovery journey that I enjoyed thoroughly. The difficulties I went through made me a stronger, compassionate, and more resilient person.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I wanted to be an artist from an early age, but my father did not approve. Being the one who is funding my tuition, I had to study what he chose for me, and I happened to like my field of study. But the flame of love for art was always burning in my heart and soul. After many years of waiting for the right time to go back to an art school to get a degree, in 2010 a friend advised to just start making art, and I did. Making art makes me feel alive. Now, I have never been happier or more content. Now, in addition to my daily job, in the evening and weekends I teach Asian Brush painting at the local museum, and I teach basketry and sculpture at the local craft center while I keep my practice from my personal studio and home.
www.baydasart.com
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
There are three qualities that I carry with me through my artistic journey:
Passion for what I do, keep making art.
Perseverance when my art is rejected, I keep on trying and applying and making art.
Keep an open mind for learning something new; to be a good teacher I have to be a studious student.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I would quit my job and move to a place by the sea to devote my time to making art 24/7. i have a project that has been on the back burner since last year. I would devote myself to finishing it. it addresses the refugee crisis in Syria and the Palestanian land occupation, roots, dispalcement, loss of land and question of identity … this would become an urgent priority.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.baydasart.com
- Instagram: baydasart
- Facebook: baydasart
Image Credits
I’d like to credit the photographer who took the photo of me : Mr. Kamal Ahmad.
