I was born and lived most of my life in Mariupol
I was born and lived most of my life in Mariupol, a beautiful city on the coast of the Sea of Azov. A rocket hit my house and made it fall down. The pressure was on my parents. They hid in a well for three days while everything around them was being bombed. This saved their lives. They spent a month in the basement with the people who gave them a place to stay. They didn't have any way to talk to anyone or get food or electricity. They were cooking food over an open fire while shells and tanks went by. I thank the universe every day for giving me life and admire the courage of the people I love. They are safe now. I left the country and went to France, where I was given temporary asylum.
The war not only took place in Ukraine and Russia, but it also changed the way people thought all over the world.
Huge changes are coming, and I'm making a new place where hearts can open by working on art. During the first few days of the war, I took out a canvas and painted a picture while explosions went off around me. "Incredibility through Blood and Tears" is the name of the picture.
Incredibility through Blood and Tears / Olha Baryshnikova
Painting is a form of therapy for me. The goal of therapy is to bring the mind back into balance by using colors and images. This gives people hope and gives life more color.
Is it important to me that my work can still be sold outside of Ukraine through online platforms. Artmajeur is one of the best places to sell art, and I sell my work there.
If I could talk to art lovers interested in helping us, I would say "Fill your life with bright colors and make a world inside of you. Give love and buy art today!'.
I've been interested in art since I was a child
I've been interested in art since I was a child. I liked to draw, make panels, paintings, and paint clothes and dishes. I've always been interested in all the beautiful things around me. I joined a lot of creative groups and worked hard to improve my skills. Fashion and art have always interested me. I finished the course Understanding Fashion: From Business to Culture at the French Institute of Fashion (IFM) in 2020. I've been through hard times in my life. Then I found myself holding oil paints. I was saved. It was a different place. The colors made me feel more alive, sexual, and in touch with my body. I like how colors look and how they make me feel.
When I was in Rome, I met an old artist who was painting a picture. He gave me a master class right in the street and showed me how to mix paints, which I now do in my own paintings. I use brushes, a palette knife, a cloth, sponges, a spatula, and my fingers. I love watercolor and use the alla prima dry and wet technique. My favorite technique is impasto. I use a lot of different techniques in one piece, which makes it unique. I use gold leaf and other decorative pieces to mix paints. This is clear in my piece "Another world" (Saturn).
Saturn is another planet / Olha Baryshnikova
I get ideas from nature, music, people...
Three things that sets me apart from other artists and give my work its own style would be: The freedom to be creative, the ability to mix colors, and the therapeutic effect.
I get ideas from nature, music, people, dance, movies, and, of course, art. I get ideas from going to art shows and museums.
The goal of my art is to make people feel good, to open their hearts, to give them peace, inspiration, and self-knowledge. I paint pictures without planning to. When I have a lot of good feelings, I start to make art, which fills the canvas with good energy.
I live in France, which is where I paint. My apartment is my little studio for making art. I take part in different exhibitions to show people what joy and happiness look like. My most important exhibition experience was a show in London for Vogue.
I ask important questions about self-awareness, love, climate change in nature, and the strength of the human spirit through my paintings. I meet interesting people and get creative ideas from them. As a public figure, I see my paintings as tools that can be used in life. With the help of my paintings, people's hearts will open and their souls will be healed.
My most recent piece of art : Green Ear. Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our health and the health of the planet. We have to do something to help solve this problem. To save the lives of all living things, everyone must adapt to climate change and work to lessen its effects. Listen to nature, and your mind will change. The work is done with the Impasto style.
If I could have made a famous piece of art from the past, that would be "Sunset at the Palace of Westminster". When you look at depth and color of this artwork, you think about how light you are.
Which famous artist would you invite to dinner if you could?
Of course, Monet! I would invite him to my parents' house, which the war had destroyed. My mother made a beautiful garden. I think Monet would paint a new masterpiece in that garden. I would show him my work after making him tea with rose petals.
Olha Baryshnikova
Browse the works of Olha Baryshnikova
Jean Dubreil
