Swil Arts: The Art of Enough
How slowing down inspired a successful creative business
By Patric Stillman
Sara Wilczynska and Valentina Jaramillo built their business Swil Arts after realizing that a successful life can still feel incomplete.
They both had fast-paced careers in New York City where constant motion is often mistaken for progress. Sara spent nearly 15 years as a software engineer before joining Google. Valentina worked in communications and global digital strategy in the pharmaceutical industry. Their days were driven by deadlines. Their lives were full. Yet something essential felt missing.
“At some point, I started to feel misaligned. Like my soul was not happy anymore,” Sara says. “I tried to fix it with a lot of different things but none of it really fully scratched the itch.”
That realization eventually opened a door.
Together they moved to San Diego during the pandemic. The California lifestyle revealed a completely different pace of life. Sara began noticing blooming cacti on hikes and surfboards left in the sand. When Valentina’s corporate position was eliminated, a larger shift followed. Sara left Google without knowing what would come next. The couple decided to take a yearlong sabbatical through Southeast Asia.
On a small island in Thailand, Sara picked up watercolors. She painted the local marine life and beauty of island living.
Working in a dive shop, Valentina shared Sara’s social media posts with the owner and he immediately asked Sara to bring the artworks to the store to sell.
To their delight, the paintings sold very well. People began requesting commissions. Travelers wanted a memory they could carry home.
“People resonated with them and said it made their memory from this place very tangible,” Sara recalls. “It made a great keepsake.”
That discovery became the foundation of Swil Arts. Today the San Diego art and illustration studio creates hand-drawn watercolor work inspired by everyday life in Southern California. Sara transforms local places into personal commissions and illustrated goods. The studio also partners with hotels, cultural organizations and other businesses on site-specific art, limited-edition keepsakes and guest experiences.
Their mission is to help people slow down and recognize the value of what is already present.
“We want people to feel that they don’t need to strive for more and more and more,” Sara says. “It’s possible to enjoy what is around them. To understand that we already have enough. To say, ‘I can enjoy what is around me.’”
Swil Arts carries that belief into how the business operates. The studio seeks local production partners whenever possible. It uses responsibly sourced paper and biodegradable packaging. A portion of every sale supports organizations working toward equity and sustainability.
That philosophy has attracted partners who believe in supporting local artists and responsible production. The San Diego Mayor’s Office selected Swil Arts keepsakes as gifts for visiting diplomats. Their goods are carried by C’est La Vie in Coronado, Nibble Chocolates in Old Town and Pacific Beach, Arts in the West at Seaport Village, Common Goods in Carlsbad, The O Zone in Oceanside and Vervor Shop in Ocean Beach. And soon, travelers will also be able to discover their goods at the San Diego International Airport.
Swil Arts is also the story of a marriage becoming a business partnership.
Valentina first stepped in when the growing studio demanded far more than painting. Sara needed time to create. The business needed outreach, operations and strategy. Valentina brought years of experience in storytelling and relationship building. Their different strengths quickly found a rhythm.
“It became very natural and very obvious, very quickly that we were a good (business) team,” Valentina says.
The partnership also gives each of them somewhere to turn when entrepreneurship becomes difficult.
“If Sara is down, I’m like, ‘It’s okay. We’re going to be okay,’” Valentina says. “Or the other way around.”
Their queer identity is visible by choice. Sara identifies as a woman and lesbian while Valentina is gender-nonconforming. Creating their own terminology, they joke that Swil Arts is a “woman-plus” business.
“We want everyone to know because it is part of who we are,” Valentina says. “But we don’t want that part to be the most interesting thing about the studio. We don’t want to be tokenized.”
“People from historically marginalized communities can be artists, small-business owners and decision-makers,” Sara says. “It’s important for our community. It’s important for the visibility. It’s important for the representation.”
San Diego has played an important role in helping Swil Arts grow through business development programs and an expanding creative network. Sara and Valentina credit local artist incubators and the San Diego Tourism Authority Accelerator * with giving them structure, connections and access to new partnerships. That support helped them define Swil Arts as a creative partner for San Diego’s hospitality industry.
Their collaboration with Nibble Chocolate paired a locally made dark chocolate bar with Sara’s watercolor of the California Tower. The result is an edible keepsake rooted in the city that inspired it.
Take Sara and Valentina’s advice. Slow down and notice the places that have shaped your life.
Support queer art and small business by visiting one of Swil Arts’ retail partners. Seek out their illustrated keepsakes and take home a piece of San Diego worth noticing.
Explore Swil Arts at swilarts.com.
* Note: Applications are now open for the San Diego Tourism Authority’s 2027 Tourism Accelerator Program, which supports small businesses, like Swil Arts, seeking to grow within San Diego’s tourism industry. Applications close Monday, October 19. Visit https://www.sandiego.org/about/tourism-accelerator/apply-to-the-tourism-accelerator for more information.