I have been an Artist from the age of 3. My earliest memories are connected to art – the paintings on the walls of my home, and the large paintings in the heavy gilded frames that I saw through the windows of the house in front of ours that housed a studio-museum of Appolinarii Vasnetsov. I remember that my brother and I were visiting that museum on daily bases, as our play ritual. We would run up the stairs to the second floor and ring the door bell. An elderly lady would open the door to us and we would enter the studio-museum and find ourselves surrounded by large canvases in the beautifully carved and gilded frames. The personages of Russian history would look at us from the paintings. The legends and fairy tales were transformed in front of our eyes into a reality. Our young curious souls would absorb the aroma of the past and would create the dreams about our future.

     As we grew older my brother and I studied art in an art school as well as at the art museums of Moscow. The years passed and we became professional artists. The early lessons of creativity that we acquired through fine art made great impact on us as adults. We became professional artists, art educators, creative problem solvers and advocates for the necessity of art in our modern lives.

     For the past 20 years I have been teaching art to young children and adults. Through those years I learned that art can teach people to see beauty around them, reflect on it, and teach creative problem solving skills. Through art people can improve their self esteem and self motivation to learn,  and can become life learners.