Photo by Dmitry Martynov
Vera Belyavskaya is a Russian-American expressionist artist and photographer (b. 1985) who currently lives and works in Boca Raton, Florida.
Vera studied painting at Sergey Andriaka's Moscow Watercolour School. After graduating in 2010 and moving with her husband to the United States, she pursued a career in photography, which changed her perspective on art and helped her come back to painting in 2018.
The artist's works are inspired by naive art and children's drawings combined with the expressive use of color and energetic mark-making. Vera has always been interested in the raw feeling of unfinished paintings, fast sketches, and schematic brush strokes. She likes simple shapes and palettes that evoke joy in the viewer. She explores everyday objects and outdoor scenes, transforming them into bright-color still lives and imaginary landscapes.
Artist's Statement
I'm inspired by children's art, cave drawings, expressionism, and naive art. I love mark-making - how a few lines put together on paper create something new and exciting.
I ask: How would a child draw a tree or a sandy beach? What colors would she pick? What would she first notice upon seeing something for the first time? These questions are always in my mind when I draw. I'm also moving away from traditional ways of seeing, looking for simplicity: how to paint a landscape without perspective or a still life without realistic value illusion and save only the pure first impression. I experiment to learn how much further I can go with only the essential elements of things but still keep them recognizable for the viewer.
Art brings joy and comfort, and looking at a painting can make you happy and feel the world more deeply. This idea attracts me and has become a creative goal for me.
I like to work intuitively with my favorite medium - tempera sticks - which combines drawing and painting. This technique also skips mixing colors on a palette which can sometimes be distracting. My other mediums are oil sticks, oil and wax pastels, colored pencils, and paper collages. Daily, I make sketches and quick studies of objects, birds, and landscapes from life and later work from memory on larger paintings.
Contact the artist: vera@belyavskaya.com
CV
Education:
2020 The Art Students League of New York: Larry Poons Studio
2015 International Center of Photography: Studied under Vivien Allender (Editorial Photography & Photo Production), New York, NY
2008-2010 Moscow School "Photography Academy": Advertising Photography & Image Editing
2005-2009 Natalia Nesterova's Moscow Academy of Education: completed 35 credits towards a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
2002-2005, 2008-2010 Sergey Andriaka's Moscow Watercolour School
Exhibitions:
2022 Group exhibition "Pine & Palm," Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL
2021 71st Anniversary member exhibit, Gallery 6, Broward County Main Library, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2021 Group exhibition "For the Bird," Broward Art Guild, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2020 Online group exhibition "All Color," Contemporary Art Gallery Online
2015 RAW Artists group show "Signature," Melrose Ballroom, New York, NY
2014 RAW Artists group show "Current," Brooklyn Night Bazaar, New York, NY
2014 Group exhibition of the "4th Annual Plein Air Competition at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site," The Oyster Bay Historical Society's Angela Koenig Center, NY
2010 Student graduation group exhibition, Sergey Andriaka's Moscow Watercolour School, Moscow, Russia
2005 Student solo photography exhibition "Rainbow on the Petals," Bogorodskoe Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2004 Student solo exhibition "Watercolor Flower Still Lives," Bogorodskoe Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Publications:
2021 Black & White, Issue #149, December, p.84
2021 Friend of the artist. Studio image project: Americas, online feature - Artist Vera Belyavskaya
2020 Zephyr Magazine, Issue No.52: 2020 The Ones to Watch, p. 8-11
2017 Beauty Rebel The Beauty Jornal: "Silver Lining," online publication
2016 Atlas Magazine: "The Dark Matters," online publication
2016 Fault Magazine: "Resort Romance," online publication
2016 Defuze Magazine, "Play The Wild," online publication
2016 Blowe Magazine, "Color Splash," online publication
2016 Atlas Magazine: "Etherial Bleu," online publication
2016 Xander Magazine, Hollywood Issue: "Star of The Circus," p. 86-95
2016 The Commission Magazine: "La Dance," online publication
2015 Solis Magazine: "Strong Point," p. 182-189
2013 Foto & Video No. 1, p. 77
2012 Foto & Video No. 4
2009 Foto & Video No. 11