Vladimir and Daniela Ovtcharov
The husband and wife team of artists emigrated to the U.S. from their native Bulgaria in 1996. They met in the 1980s attending college in Sofia, Bulgaria. Both earned their Masters of Fine Arts degrees in 1989 at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts, National Academy of Fine Arts.
Daniela Ovtcharov became well-known for her conservation and restoration of ancient, medieval and modern art while Vladimir illustrated books and made fine silver jewelry and enamel pieces. Both had a long-term collaboration with Hemus Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria’s largest international retailer of fine arts, exporting mainly to Germany, Austria, Holland and Poland.
During this period, the Ovtcharovs continued to create their own fine art, drawing on traditional orthodox icons and sacred arts as their inspiration. The two founded and operated Adamant K. Fine Arts & Crafts Gallery in Novotel Europa, then one of the top five hotels in Bulgaria.
Their work is in the permanent collection of the Crypt of the Patriarchal Cathedral Memorial Church, St. Alexander Nevski, a division of the Bulgarian National Gallery of Fine Arts in association with the National History Museum. The “crypt” is dedicated to Christian Orthodox arts, and is the most prestigious center for religious visual arts in Bulgaria.
Since moving to New Mexico, the Ovtcharovs have won many awards for their work at arts festivals in Chicago, La Jolla (CA), Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Portland, Houston, and Coconut Grove (FL). In the early 2000s, they founded and operated Tangra Gallery on Canon Road in Santa Fe.
