Today we’d like to introduce you to Vira Ustianska.
Hi Vira, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Everyone compares what is happening with their past experiences and does not always fully understand the real artist’s path from “I like to draw” to professional activity. Having dedicated 17 years to art training, I still continue to improve my skills and always see a new way to make the following picture more interesting; perhaps this is the recipe for my inspiration.
Having started drawing when I was 7 years old, I still do the same, but with a baggage of experience, greedily collecting impressions of the beauty around me. And this synergy of knowledge, experience, and delight in beauty is the golden emotion I share with you. This is my burden, which I faithfully carry through all periods of my life, even though life unfolds at an unpredictable angle. Sometimes, I have to start all over again, but skills and experience always remain in my pockets, because the art is my constant and a part of me.
I am very happy that I was able to be born with such a unique talent and get the best art education in Ukraine, but I also believe that the support of people who tirelessly believed in my rapid success became the spark that determined where I am.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The path to success is never completely smooth. However, I am grateful for the coincidences that, at the very last minute, did not let me drown. It is as if someone from above was really counting on me and did not let me give up.
The first obstacle on my path was when I was 15 years old. Although now I understand that everything happened exactly as it should, in those years, I thought about turning off my path. I failed my exams in college and gave up. Deciding to skip art, I went to study psychology. Still, soon, I realized that this path was not creative enough, and I dropped out of the University and moved to another city to get a higher art education.
How many pieces of art do you buy every month? This question answers the question of the smooth way for artists. Each step is a trial for me. But I definitely know that time and hard work can do magic. For example, if I spend 5 years without giving up, I evaluate the result. Since painting is like good wine, paintings need time so that people can truly experience their aftertaste – those very emotions from the depths of the subconscious. This feeling is similar to nostalgia. Because when we are here and now, it is not easy to evaluate our real feelings; when we remember this after some time, we look at what happened as if from the outside. This is the mission of Real Art.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a professional oil painter trained by the South-Eastern Ukrainian School of Painting, which has become a symbiosis of European traditions of Fine Art and the Imperial Academy of Arts. The Kharkiv Art School is filled with the southern sun, which makes Ukrainian impressionism very similar to Californian impressionism.
But nowadays, we have more tools to express an idea; we have in our hands the experience of all previous generations, from the academicism of the 17th century to the latest trends of the 20th century. This can be seen in the use of old master’s techniques connected with different approaches to composition. Those skills, which I was trained there, give me the tools to depict the essence of my feelings.
Painting for me is one of my vital needs, so it has become a part of my life. But despite the fact that today I am in a capitalist country and have to improve my business skills – I still try to follow my heart and make timeless art. This dedication to my idea makes me special.
From my BIO…
I am an award-winning artist and art teacher. I am a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild, the California Art Club, the American Impressionist Society, the Oil Painter of America, and the Kensington and Talmage Business Association.
During my 17-year art career, I had 20 solo exhibitions and participated in different International, National, and Regional art exhibitions and Plein airs. My paintings are in national art museums in Ukraine, and they are in private collections in Ukraine, Poland, the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Dania, Spain, Lithuania, Romania, Taiwan, China, and Russia. I paint in different genres, such as still life, landscape, portrait, and figurative, and I also do commissions. My canvases come alive from the combination of emotional “impasto” brushstrokes and transparent flowing oil paint, so viewing my artworks helps the audience be distracted from the daily hustle and enjoy the essence of beauty, feeling real, like a child.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Once, a gallery owner from San Francisco told me:
“You have a huge talent and an extraordinary sense of color, which other artists of your level have, but you are distinguished from them by your unique vision.” At first, I was a little skeptical, but later, I caught myself thinking. Why, when I work out in a gym, I can’t take my eyes off the view outside the window, how the sunbeam plays on the palm leaves, supporting the general rhythm of the houses on the hill. Every time I admire this composition. And this plot will live in my collection of unique imageries until I put this one on the canvas.
Pricing:
- pet portraits – from $300 – to… depends on size and subject
- portraits -from $500 – to… depends on size and subject
- Other commissions from $300 – to … depends on size and subject
- Original small paintings from $100 – to … depends on size and subject and history of exhibitions
- Original middle and big size paintings from $500 – to … depends on size and subject and history of exhibitions
Contact Info:
- Website: viraustianska.com
- Instagram: @viraustianska
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ustianskavart/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vira-ustianska/
Image Credits
Victoria Ivanova-Lindsey
