Karolina Zelenekiene, Chicago based young graphic designer/make-up artist from Lithuania
My name is Karolina Zelenekiene. I am 23 years old graphic designer and make-up artist from Lithuania. For those who don’t know, Lithuania is a country in the Baltic region of northern-eastern Europe. It is a former Soviet bloc nation bordering Poland, Latvia and Belarus. Our lovely capital Vilnius is known for its medieval Old Town, a UNESCO listed historic centre. Lithuania’s historic heritage sets it quite apart from the other two Baltic countries.
Those of you who are travelled in Eastern Europe may have heard about Lithuanian dishes such as zeppelins (cepelinai) and cold red beet soup (šaltibarščiai).
This year brought a lot of changes into my life. First of all I got married to a wonderful man wife after 4 years together. I graduated from the Vilnius Academy off Arts (graphic design degree). Lastly, my husband and I decided to move to Chicago.
This is the first trip so far away from my hometown. And it is not just a trip, we are starting a new life together in Chicago. I have never been so far away from Lithuania. I have never lived in another country more than 2 months. If I ever went anywhere, it was only for a holiday. In Chicago we have lived only 3 months. That means we have not gotten to know to know the city very well yet.
After we visited downtown Chicago, we decided that we want live in there one day. We currently live in Willowbrook.
The biggest passion in my life in addition to design is make-up. It is a hobby I have had for about 3 years. It all started as I like to do make-up on myself. For my birthday I got professional make-up courses as a gift. First I took the courses to do professional make-up on myself. When I learned more I started doing make-up for my friends and for clients. By the time I finished the make-up courses I had created a logo, business cards and facebook page for myself. I participated for unpaid photo shoots only to learn and train on new faces and get new photos for my fan page.
Little by little my circle of clients expanded in Lithuania and I ended working almost all weekends. Some of my clients were upset, when I told them that I will move abroad. When we came to Chicago my husband suggested I continue my hobby. He knows what I like – so I started to promote myself. Right now only Lithuanian girls come to my for professional make-up. However, I hope that in future I can attract other nationalities as well. I’m very new in Chicago. It is always harder to start from scratch, but in time I hope so that my clientele will grow to what I had in Lithuania.
I am happy to all kinds of make-up from bridal make-up to fashion shoots, special effects or Halloween make-up. I love Halloween as a celebration because it allows me to experiment with special effects.
ABOUT THE FUTURE
In the future I may open my own Make-up studio.
In addition of doing make-up for the clients I could teach girls how to do make-up for themselves (or their clients).
I can not imagine my life without both of my passions – make-up and graphic design.
If would like me to help you with your make-up or design, my information is below.
CONNECT WITH KAROLINA:
facebook.com/
Email Karolina
Instagram: karolinak_makeup and karolinadesign