Featured Artist Nataliya Gurshman

Artist Nataliya Gurshman’s paintings are filled with texture and dramatic spontaneity. Be inspired by more of her art by visiting her website.

 

 

I am a professional fine artist and an art teacher. I grew up in the cold, snowy climate of the city of Leningrad in the former Soviet Union. Therefore, I absolutely love snow and winter. My heart elates when it snows. I lived in Boston for many years and was in heaven in the winter.

 

 

I started painting when I was eight years old. A dear friend who was also my neighbor at the time was attending an art college, and was willing to teach me. We spent hours painting flowers and other props that he set up for me. He was eight years older than me, so I listened attentively.

 

 

My parents supported my creativity, and eventually I entered an elite art high school within the Art Academy of Leningrad. My art education continued when we immigrated to the States thirty years ago. Although my undergrad was in illustration, I was always an oil painter and never gave up my love. I matured over the years and so did my art.

 

 

I am a very intuitive being, and my art reflects that. I create my work in a single breath, without any pause, so that I do not lose any drop of that inspiration.

 

 

Whatever I am painting, I must be in love with my subject. Since I grew up in a big city, I am attracted to street perspectives, architecture and city sounds. I only paint cities that I have lived in, thus I have an intimate emotional connection with my city and am able to create my unique impression of it.

 

 

Recently, however, I have found that I am also fascinated by nature. I put my heart and soul into my paintings. They reflect my background and my emotional state at the moment, as I utilize new artistic techniques.

 

 

I love bold brush strokes of opaque lights against transparent cooler shadows that enable me to express movement. More often than not, I use my palette knife that gives me the raw essence of the oils.

 

 

Because winter and snow were a big part of my life, I keep coming back to it sometimes unconsciously in my art. This body of work reflects my love for winter. Some pieces are more realistic while others are more abstract. However, I express my energy and love for snow equally well in both. Many of these works are inspired either by a real place or my childhood memories and emotions.

 

 

In addition to creating art, I actively teach in different settings and help a younger generations of artists achieve their goals and dreams of going to art college. I teach pre-college portfolio classes as well as offer private instruction in the Washington D.C. area. I welcome students ages thirteen to adult to my studio.

 

 

I am proud to say that all of my pre-college students get accepted to the top art colleges of their choice and receive large sums of merit scholarships.

 

Artist Nataliya Gurshman invites you to follow her on Instagram and Pinterest.

 

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