Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Apaid.
Hi Claudia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Claudia Apaid, I am a Haitian American, Miami-based artist, fashion designer, philanthropist, Reiki Master and single mom to Isabella.
My passion started while growing up in Haiti, very much influenced by its vibrant colorful and soulful rich culture. From my upbringing at home with creative and entrepreneurial parents to when I graduated from the International Fine Arts College in Miami with a focus on design, I have always immersed myself in the arts. A turn of events occurred the moment my daughter was born and I quickly understood that I needed to create a better world for her to grow up in. She was the flame that fueled my passion to understand what was needed for a collective sense of wellbeing — the essential for a future of all wellbeing. Shortly after, I decided I needed to take action and serve the most vulnerable children of Haiti. With humility in saying this, but I believed, and still do, that they needed a mom like my Bella has to look after them and support them, so I founded SOW A SEED — a non-profit 401( c) (3) supporting Haiti’s orphanages and underserved children.
I rallied family, friends, and my community to join me in this effort. With everyone’s help, we established a volunteer-based foundation that has served over two million impoverished children and families thus far over the years. Through this work I was able to spread healing and build a platform for all to create meaningful change for the collective, hence our motto “collaborating for collective growth.” SOW A SEED’s mission is to bring hope, reduce hardship and promote sustainable change in the lives of underprivileged children and underserved communities in Haiti. This ‘job’ for me was different from others considering that we had zero overhead and we were acting solely as volunteers. Therefore, as the organization grew over the years, I needed to sustain myself financially with side projects, including working in my family’s manufacturing company. Since my position was operational and managerial, it did not allow room for my creativity to be birthed. My dream after college was to launch a luxurious handbag collection that attracted the high-net worth and affluent market, but like a jewel, designing this dream was meticulously compartmentalized. While I was committed and dedicated to realizing this dream, it was met with what felt like endless challenges and obstacles that prevented me from bringing this project to life.
Then, another major shift in my life came when I was informed that my dearest cousin Aileen, who was like an older sister to me was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. I felt it was my duty to inform myself and to take on ways to help her. I dabbled in holistic healing and attended a wellness expo and discovered Reiki, kundalini, chakras, alchemy, crystal therapy and more. I immersed myself into this new world and started my training as a Reiki Master. I felt newly inspired, started sketching new designs that were purely influenced by energy and sacred geometry. The process was very organic and things flowed into a new reality for me. I started to dig up my old embroidery bag panels and stitched them together to form new larger panels, which ignited the ‘big picture idea’ for me —to create bigger artwork tapestry-like pieces. I infused my creations with reiki vibrations that I learned to activate and the concept was then unearthed — I themed each art piece around healing, spirituality and nature. I was creating all of this very privately and was learning to heal myself in the process: the works were a reflection of this healing. I mustered the courage to share that part of myself with the world and produced my first art show exhibit at a wellness event and I ended up selling out almost all of my creations. My art career was born. Many successful shows followed and I asserted myself in my light. My art has beauty, soul, meaning, purpose and allows me to spread healing and share knowledge.
Right after the exhibit I took a celebratory trip to Spain, visited my cousin Monica who connected me to the right person who would help me finally complete this lifelong dream project of mine — making this bag collection. It was all in divine order and timing. I finally saw the light in me that everyone saw, and I am taking ownership for it. I finally took out that compartmentalized jewel from its box and stitched one with the other, and created my dream.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth easy road for me to get to where I am today. It took me about 10 years to find my path, my purpose, and understand that what I thought were dead-ends were in fact the road blocks and hurdles that I needed to overcome in order to accomplish my goals. Sometimes I would have a vision and set my mind to how this vision will come to fruition and then the universe had a different plan for me on the steps to take to get there. I now know that there is purpose in everything. A lesson to be learned in everything, and so some of the lessons I take with me every day is to trust the journey, to be conscious in my choices, to find the positive in all situations I’m faced with and to react from a centered space. I trust in the divine order and its timing. As mentioned above, it wasn’t until Art Basel 2019 that I finally launched my wearable art clutch collection and it was a complete success. In hindsight, I now understand that I needed to go through my healing journey, be of service, and create transcendental art in what now seems to be paralleled lines that finally merged into one. It was through my journey of finding how to create these bags that all these other things were born in which evolved into my current successes. My purpose in all I do is to spread healing and raise the collective vibration through whatever creative means I can.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My artwork is a variety of mixed media creations using hand-sewn embroideries, crystal therapy and energy healing to elevate the vibrations in each piece. The materials I often use include sequins, crystals, glass beads, precious stones and up-cycled metal to create these one-of-a-kind pieces. These high vibe Reiki-charged pieces are designed to fill one’s space with positive intentions. When consciously used, the subjects serve as a transcendental tool to interconnect and transmute a sense of wellbeing on to the observer. Some of the pieces work to address the observer’s specific chakras while helping them find their flow and serving as reminders to set out intentions. Using the power of color therapy, crystals, Reiki and divine feminine archetypes, the pieces not only serve as beautiful displays of artwork but also as purposeful healing tools.
How do you think about luck?
I read a great quote about this topic — “Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity,” quoting Oprah Winfrey. I think this resonates much more with me than the belief of plain luck. I am a big believer in the power of our thoughts and the law of attraction. We are much more powerful creators than we think we are. I know that by cultivating empowering positive thoughts, we attract positive experiences, opportunities are brought forward and when we put in the work, the universe conspires in helping us to realize those thoughts and achieve our goals. Visualization, intention and the practice of gratitude play a big part multiplying our blessings.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.claudiaapaid.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/apaidart/ and www.instagram.com/sowaseed/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/apaidart
- Other: sowaseedonline.org
Image Credits:
Ignace Hage Isabella Prato Apaid
