Meet Silvio Porzionato | Painter – Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Silvio Porzionato and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Silvio, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
What was your thought process behind starting your own business?

I was an interior designer, but I wasn’t happy, so I quit my job and after a year I planned to open a farm and make wine. During this sabbatical year I traveled to Asia and once I arrived in India I was a guest of an elderly painter, who claimed that I was a painter too. But I had never painted before.
During the rest of my trip, when I arrived in the Himalayas I met a Spanish boy who gave me some watercolors and I started drawing and painting, I never stopped.

Do you have a budget? How do you think about your personal finances and how do you make lifestyle and spending decisions?

I don’t really have a budget. Most of my travel, trips, and work activities are based on the projects I’m working on. So the budget I plan to spend each day is also based on the project I’m living.

Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?

To become an artist, I bet everything on risk and courage. As I said, I discovered I was a painter during a trip to India, once I discovered this I turned my life upside down to follow this dream. I left every other activity, I gave up a secure salary and l risked everything to get to be what l am today.

Where are you from and how did your background and upbringing impact who you are today?

I come from a humble working class family. For cultural reasons, I never thought I could be part of an artistic intellectual world when I was young. I think it was important for me to live and grow up with such a humble family… It made me understand that you always have to remember where you come from and who you really are. My mother taught me that even if you don’t feel like doing something or if you are depressed about your situation, you have to get up and do something. Every morning her words were a mantra for me and even if the first years as an artist were very difficult, only with strength of mind and will, I managed to become what I am today.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

The stubbornness, the obsessive desire to succeed. All the hours of work to refine the technique, to improve myself, to surpass myself.

What value or principle matters most to you? Why?

Definitely family, private life, friends.
Because it’s important, especially to be happy. When you come home, after work, after a business trip, everything makes sense.

Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? How do you think about the balance?

My balance has changed, improving over time. Understanding who l am was important at the beginning of my career, but during the process of growth and change, everything became easier ano therefore more balanced. I think balance is necessary to always be able to focus on the important things. Balance helps you in your choices. It helps you not to be overwhelmed by life.

What’s the end goal? Where do you want to be professionally by the end of your career?

My goal has always changed over the years. It’s like l’ve always raised the bar. So for now my goal is to improve myself. To grow artistically and professionally. The final goal for now is to be able to live peacefully with my wife in the future years. Maybe in Paris.

Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

Very simply because I decided to follow my instinct… I tried to understand who I really was and what my talent was. I tried not to let external factors, like family or friends, influence me. I did what came easiest to me.

Tell us about a book you’ve read and why you like it / what impact it had on you.

One of the books that had a major impact was “A fortune teller told me” by Tiziano Terzani. I read it during my trip to Asia and it helped me take life differently. It helped me understand the meaning of travel, knowledge, human contact, the beauty of the landscape.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started painting at the age of 35. I had never painted before. It happened during a trip to India and since that trip, I have never stopped doing it.
The day I decided that it would be my job, I rolled up my sleeves and started working hard.
Every day, I woke up early and went to paint. even 10 hours a day. Every day I tried to improve myself.
I am a self-taught painter, part of a world where those who have attended the academy are privileged, so the only weapon in my favor was my talent, which however had to be refined and improved day by day, to be able to compete with others.
It was not easy. To be able to do it, I had to abandon everything else. I could not be a part-time artist, I had to “be” an artist all the time. So I left my job to dedicate myself totally to painting and the first few years were really difficult. I didn’t even have money for a beer with friends.
But I knew it was the right path and so I was happy anyway.
The important thing for me was to do what I loved to do.
The secret was to work hard. If I could give advice to those who want to do this job, it would be to stop thinking about

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Of course it depends on which area you mean. If my best friend comes to visit me in my city, which is Turin in Italy, I would definitely take him for a drive through the hills and vineyards around the city, I would take him to eat in some local trattoria, where even the chef comes out of the kitchen to come and greet you and hug you, I would make him experience the history of the city, I would make him visit the most important museums and gardens of the eighteenth-century villas of this city, the same gardens that in the past hosted walks of kings and queens.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate this Shoutout all the people who have contributed to my career over the years, for better or for worse. All the galleries, collaborators, friends, but most of all the collectors who believed in my work and spent their money to have a painting of mine in their home.
I want to dedicate this to my family, especially my wife who helps me every day and works with me.
and then I would like to dedicate this to the most important person in this endeavor…me. I was the first to believe in myself.

Website: https://www.silvioporzionato.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/silvioporzionato

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silvio.porzionato

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@silvioporzionato3279