Sole Galván grew up in Santa Cruz province in Argentina’s Patagonia region, a notoriously cold place, known for its ever-shifting icy landscape.
“That’s probably why I am not a big fan of cold weather,” Miss Galván said.
To escape the cold winters, she moved to the centre of the country to pursue higher education and never looked back, eventually making the trek to Australia.
“I moved to Australia in 2019 just before the COVID hit us,” she said.
After going through tough times during the pandemic, Miss Galván and her partner, Patrick Molan, moved to Shepparton for some serenity.
“We moved to Shepparton from Chelsea in Melbourne for a job offer for my partner and for a little bit of more nature and quietness,” she said.
“We really like living here — the walks around the lake, the places like the Milkbar or going to see the towns around for the day.”
Miss Galván now lives in a townhouse with paintings sprawled throughout. Her studio especially is a cave of colour, expression and love for her craft.
She settled into the local area, before throwing herself into Australia’s creative world.
“I am a mixed media self-taught artist. I do abstract and figurative painting, collage and some photography,” she said.
“I have a casual job related to art too where I am learning a lot about Australian art and artists, which is awesome.
“I sell my paintings online; my partner frames them for me and I sell through two shops in Melbourne.”
She runs her business, La Escondida Arte, through her website and Instagram. The business name comes from a “pretty romantic tiny cabin in Cordoba, Argentina, from where we took the name for [our] dream life”.
The future Miss Galvan sees for herself is full of family, art and culture.
“In the future, I want to be painting 24/7, I want to keep writing, to be able to learn more about Australian art and learn new artistic skills,” she said.
“I want to be able to come back ‘home’ at least once a year because when you migrate you kind of live a little bit split in the middle, if it makes sense; even if I love living here, I miss a lot.”
Although Miss Galván misses her home country, she has found joy in discovering Australia’s differences with Argentina.
“What surprised me the most about Australia when I arrived was the huge size of my ignorance about the country. We mostly know about koalas and kangaroos, of course, and surfers,” she said.
“I didn't know about the terrible weather in Melbourne, I didn't know about Indigenous Australia and I can't believe I never heard about Uncle Jack [Charles] before in my whole life.
“I have been discovering beautiful treasures, history, music and communities, and I think that is why I like Shepparton more than living in a huge city — there is a bigger sense of community.
“My favourite things here are definitely the Blu Tack, the hash browns and the op shops, all three of which we don't have at home.”