Meet Yesim
I'm Yesim Ozalin de Sousa, a self-taught oil painter who took the scenic route to art. Born and raised in Türkiye with an engineering background, I met my Portuguese husband in Istanbul, married in the UK, and landed in the United States in 2001. For over two decades, I built a career in the corporate world, but art was always waiting in the wings.
After 26 years, I made the leap back to my first love: painting. I picked up oil paints in my mid-twenties as a way to unwind and express something words couldn't quite capture. With no formal training, I learned by doing, watching, experimenting, and staying endlessly curious about what makes us human.
I'm also the mom of 16 year old triplets, which taught me a thing or two about patience, resilience, and finding beauty in the chaos of everyday life.
About My Work:
I paint from a place of arrival. After a long corporate career and decades of life’s responsibilities, I now dedicate myself fully to oil painting.
My work reflects the warmth, character, and imperfections of people and places that inspire me; faces that tell stories, streets and landscapes that hold memory, and the light and color of the Mediterranean.
Each painting is created to capture more than a visual impression; it reflects the feeling, culture, and soul of the subject. I also take commissions, including portraits and custom work, bringing the same care, attention, and narrative into every piece.
Lately, I've been drawn more to portraiture, though I still wander into other territory when something catches my eye.
What pulls me in are the quiet, unguarded faces, the ones that tell you something true. I'm looking for honesty, dignity, the weight of a life lived. Not the posed smile, but the expression beneath it. The story in the stillness.
I believe there's beauty in calm, in truth, in the small moments we don't always stop to notice. And I believe every face holds a life worth seeing.