Vesselina Traptcheva was born in Varna, Bulgaria. She began training in and painting at an early age and attended both the National High School for Fine Arts and National Academy for Fine Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she majored in printmaking. She came to the USA on a scholarship to the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she completed a BFA in Painting. She completed an MFA in painting in Parsons, New York. She received a fellowship to attend the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2003 and completed a residency at Yaddo in 2004. Her work was highlighted in Nezo American Paintings MFA Edition in 2000. She was awarded the Art of the Northeast Jean and Don Rorke Award in 2002, as well as Honorable Mentions at the 4th Annual Small Works Exhibition at the Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts. Her work was featured at The Radius Exhibit '07 at the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Recently her work appeared in an exhibition entitled Engineering Eden at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. Her Work can be viewed at The Drawing Center's Viewing Program and Curated Slide Registry at the Drawing Center.
She is an art Instructor at SUNY Purchase, Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, and Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York, as well as an artist on the Westchester Artist Roster at the Westchester Arts Council, White Plains, New York. She has been a Visiting Artist at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland and an art instructor at UCONN, Stamford, Connecticut She lives in Westchester, New York.