Khor Virap Monastery (Armenia)_Landscape Painting

FACTS Olga Skhirtladze was born and raised in Russia, in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Now works as an illustrator for the children's magazine "Sasha and Dasha" (Nizhny Novgorod), as an editor and curator in an online project on contemporary art. Participates as an artist in projects of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese and in urban projects for the study of areas. She is a member of the Union of Watercolorists of Russia, a resident of the international association of artists ASM-club. Her works are in private collections in Australia, Russia, Georgia, Armenia. SOURCES OF INSPIRATION Olga says that for her own creativity she draws inspiration from the surrounding reality. She is admired for color combinations, natural lines, rhythms, and forms, she loves to find lyrical and funny stories in everyday life. TECHNIQUES OF WORK She loves everything that is dynamic, changing, and therefore chose watercolor as the main artistic material. Loves it because every time it strives to become a co-author of the picture. In the creative process, she values spontaneity, improvisation, impulse, and in this, watercolor is the best tool for her. And the artist's passion for line and texture helps to express the graphics. Sketching is a direction in which she also loves to work. PRIVATE COLLECTIONS Olga Skhirtladze's paintings are included in private collections in Russia, Australia, Georgia and Armenia. ARTIST STATEMENT "First the notes, then the letters, now the paints". With this aphorism, a friend of mine marked my creative biography. Well, the aphorism is correct: first I received my education as a musicologist, then as an art journalist... But "the paints" in this sequence had to be put forward. After all, as a child, I graduated from art school. True, for over 20 years I have been hiding this fact. Having given a good academic base, the school still did not teach independent drawing, and therefore I was terrified to hear: "So you are an artist? – Draw!" Fortunately, there were people thanks to whom I was able to return to an abandoned occupation and reach a level where I can say publicly: "I am an artist". Masterclasses, thematic courses, workshops, and intensives with wonderful teachers helped to hone forgotten skills and find their own "voice". With this "voice" – as well as the voice of a musicologist and a journalist – I like to confess my love for this world and for its Creator.