Tempted to use Frank Stella's description of his art, "What you see is what you see," as a way to describe my art, I will nevertheless share some personal views about my work. I create art because I love to do it, even when struggles are involved. I have been drawing, painting, photographing, and experimenting with mixed media since I was a child.

 

I like to think that the child in me still appears in the art I do, along with a more mature "soul," feeling, intelligence, and often wit, expressed in large part through color, texture, shape, and composition. For me, art needs to convey a personal, original point of view, along with its strong visual elements and well-executed techniques. The work that I create attempts to capture my reaction to the world around me. My inspiration comes from my own experiences and emotions, nature, places visited, varied cultures, historical eras, and art over the ages - ranging from Ming Dynasty squares to paintings by Klimt, Kandinsky, and Krasner. My most characteristic pieces are my mixed media embroidered collages. My influences go back to my Russian paternal grandparents - my grandmother, who taught me to embroider and my grandfather, who gave me fabric remnants from his tailor shop.