Wonder Woman

On Wednesday night our darling semi-adopted Bulgarian daughter Eva Koleva Timothy came to Utah for a whirlwind trip! Who knew in 1994 when she arrived at our home as a cute little teen-ager from Bulgaria that she would be coming back 17 years later as a world-renowned photographer?

Eva lived with us for several years and adding considerable sunshine to the lives of the Eyre family.  She studied at BYUI (Ricks College at the time) and got her degree in Communications at The University of Utah.

To make a long story short, she married our dear friend’s son and Adam and Eva and had a magical wedding in a gorgeous garden!  After their first child was born they took off for Oxford University where her husband was accepted in the MBA program. As we hugged her goodbye she showed me her little Kodak point and shoot camera and said she was off to take a photography class so she could be a photographer some day.  I wished her luck with a wink and a nod and off they went.

This week she came back to BYU where a 30-piece exhibition of her book Lost in Learning:The Art of Discovery hangs outside the auditorium of the Harold B. Lee Library on the BYU campus until January 30th. There she did a lecture on her life growing up under communism and the amazing things that can happen when you think outside the box! Saren found Eva while serving her mission in Bulgaria and we are forever grateful for what she has added to our lives!

 

The wonderful women responsible for her getting Eva to BYU:  

 

Earlier that morning she mesmerized a hundred middle school students at The McGillis School with her story and photography. Their questions were stellar! Below is the staff and representatives of the University of Utah who invited her to “make their day”!

 

After a lunch with beloved friends who served as missionaries and friends at Tucano’s in Provo and the BYU presentation at 3 o’clock, we dashed to the Leonardo Museum in SLC where she presented her story and beautiful photography again to the Humanities Department from which she graduated at the U of U. It was a delight for everyone present! Sorry I forgot to take pictures. 

Today her work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the collections of The The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Library of Congress (Permanent Collection), The British Library, Green Templeton College (Oxford University), The George Eastman House Library and The Victoria Albert Museum (National Art Library).

Eva believes that the art’s purpose is to empower us in looking beyond the dulling distractions and to focus on our noblest aspirations in life.

In her debut monograph, Lost in Learning: The Art of Discovery, Eva has woven this worldview of learning, history and art into a creation which urges us each to pursue our life’s dreams with greater passion.

Eva’s life personifies her beliefs and core values and most especially permeates the life of her family. A home-schooler extraordinaire, she and Adam may be raising the next Einstein or modern-day Di Vinci with her ability to embrace freedom in all its forms!

As she boarded a red-eye that night to re-join her children in New England the next morning, I reflected on the fact that being with Eva truly is a combination of magic and pure joy!  To see her inspiring short video click here or get more information and see some of her photos click here.