WHY I PAINT ICONS:

I'm a professional artist with strong academic skills. I enjoy painting oil portraits, watercolor landscapes, and drawing figures with chalk and pencil.

However, my true passion lies in creating icons. I find the world of iconography to be incredibly profound, offering opportunities for spiritual growth and wisdom.

I follow traditional icon techniques to create vibrant and meaningful icons that come to life with depth and beauty.


  • Materials


  • Experience


  • Sources

I use natural materials

  • Organic wood panels with braces
  • Pavoloka and Levkas
  • Natural Dry Pigments from stones
  • Hand Prepared Egg Tempera
  • Olifa and Oil Based Varnish
  • Genuine Gold Leaf

Long story short

It seems like I was preparing to be an iconographer my whole life. 

THE ROAD TO icons 

7 facts about my art expertise

  1. Started art school at age 8.
  2. Continued art education throughout my life.
  3. Over 25 years of experience with various art materials and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Russia.
  4. Art teacher since 2009, specializing in perspective, painting, and drawing for teenagers and adults.
  5. Worked on kids animated movies, including "the Prophet," "Angry Birds," "Croods"," Ella the Elephant," and more.
  6. Blessed to paint icons at the Holy Virgin Cathedral in San Francisco.
  7. Became an iconographer due to a desire for meaningful work and to create beautiful images for my children.

Repentance

7 facts about my spiritual life

  1. I was baptized as an Orthodox Christian in infancy.
  2. A monk once blessed me to become an artist while I was painting near an old church as a teenager.
  3. I developed a deep love for the Liturgy in an English-speaking parish in Vancouver.
  4. When I'm feeling down, I find solace in praying to Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
  5. I once had an overwhelming experience during the Nativity service and nearly fainted in Saint Paul and Peter Cathedral in Minsk, Belarus.
  6. Since then, I have maintained a proper fasting routine, except during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
  7. The Diveyevo Monastery holds a special place in my heart as my favorite spiritual experience.

forever together

7 facts about my family 

  1. I am mother with two children and more to come (God willing).
  2. My husband was in a rock and roll band before we met.
  3. We met in an Orthodox Church.
  4. In 2016, we worked in the Valaam Monastery near Saint Petersburg and hitchhiked from Crimea to Moscow together.
  5. Our kids are wonderful explorers and little living icons. ♥︎
  6. Both pregnancies were followed by postpartum depression, which took me almost a year to overcome.
  7. Our family is interested in nourishing and healing foods, natural medicine, and outdoor activities.

Do you want an icon? 

Email me your request