From the beginning, art has been a part of my life. After school, on rainy days, really for any excuse, mom, an artist, put pencils, colored pencils, crayons, scrap paper, coloring books, etch-a-sketch & a spirograph on the dining room table to keep me and my six siblings busy, (and out of her hair!).
We were taught that;
– there are no mistakes and what we may consider a mistake, could very well be the best, “inspired” part of whatever it was we were working on,
– you don’t have to, “stay in the lines”, and
– the sky isn’t always blue (& rarely a single shade!)
A great artistic start.

In grade school, I always placed and more often won, the holiday window painting contests at the local strip mall and in high school, I was a member of the art club, always selling my work at the art fair.

The same through college and I had the fortune, as a Russian Major,  to spend my junior year abroad in Fribourg, Suisse and earn a diploma  from their School of Eastern European Studies. I backpacked and took my Eurorail pass to visit most of the major art museums in Europe. That was a massive eye-opener.

Upon graduating college, I moved to St. Petersburg, Russia. There, I truly realized the far reaching aspect of art. I saw the same artists’ work, new artists &  so much more, as the Hermitage was a 10-minute walk that I took frequently after classes.
After a stint as a Russian Translator/Analyst for the government in Washington, I moved to NYC, where I’ve lived since and raised my family on the upper west side while simultaneously translating, teaching, running a  painting/wallpapering business, modeling & acting. You’ve may have seen me in movies, on tv, in videos or on stage.

A couple of years ago, I had the amazing opportunity to work on the digital achieving of one of the world’s largest private art collections. I got to see artwork that hasn’t been seen in public for decades from all around the globe – a paid education.
In recent years, I’ve done commissioned work with my figurative paintings, abstracts, driftwood pieces (the New York Public Library invited me to speak on that!) and sketches, primarily of clients homes & pets.

At this point, I’ve had gallery shows & also exhibits at the NYPL.

**** Currently, along with this exhibition, my painting, Modern Madonnas has been accepted into the Metropolitan Museum’s 150th Anniversary Design Competition. (My brother’s piece of sculpture has also been accepted.) You can go to the Mets Design contest website (Http://wshe.es/iwsNMoBP) and vote for us through August 12th.