How one artist does what she loves, while still getting paid for it.
Samantha daSilva worked in Naturopathy and Herbology for years before she realized it wasn’t healthy for her to continue in the same line of work.
“[It was] incredibly fulfilling, I learned a lot but I found myself after the ten years extremely burnt out and kind of wondering…is this it?”
After a nervous breakdown, a move back to Calgary from where she was living in Vancouver and a year she spent painting she knew there was no going back.
“When people talk about painting for therapy that’s exactly what I did. I surrounded myself with lots of blank canvases and tons of paint and I painted my heart out. Its what I did. It was my full time job.”
daSilva dove headfirst into her art, something she has previously never tried, and in that first year had 12 art shows. 
Samantha daSilva realized that painting was her calling after she suffered a mental breakdown and moved back to Calgary to pursue painting full time.
Photo by Jennifer Dorozio
“I decided that there’s no plan B. Plan A is to be a happy successful artist and to never have to go back to the corporate world again.”
And that’s what she did, she now supports herself through selling her pieces and teaching art classes and workshops.
A highlight she remembers with a smile tugging at her lips is going to Paris, all on an artist’s budget.
Her latest paint series titled, “After Paris”, attempts to capture her feelings there; all gold and silver wispiness.
Dasilva glows when covered in paint, she couldn’t see herself doing anything else, “I will be doing this for the rest of my life,” she says, “and I love that.”