Stromlo Forest Park Painting

Valentyna’s contemporary impressionist style captures the emotion of every landscape scene by embracing the effects of the changing light, atmosphere and the sensation of moving air. She is a landscape painter, committed to her art and the people who appreciate it. Valentina’s professional training began at the Samokish College of Fine Arts in Crimea - one of the oldest academic art schools in the former USSR, with a clear lineage to the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts. She obtained her Master’s degree in Architecture and Landscape Design at the Academy of Construction and Architecture “V.I. Vernadsky Сrimean Federal University”. However, what truly shaped Valentina’s development as a professional artist is her early formal academic training at the Fine Arts School for children in Simferopol where she received a strong classical foundation in drawing, composition, sculpture, decorative arts and traditional painting techniques. Valentina’s classical background, her strong drafting skills and her deep knowledge of art history permeate her art. And yet, her work exudes freedom, vibrancy of colour, translucency of light and the crispness of Canberra air. Valentyna is an intrinsically Australian artist, who transposes the techniques and knowledge she absorbed in a very different place to the context of nature, history and social fabric of Australia. She is an artist of great diversity and depth. Some of her works take us back to the exuberance of the French fauves or the harmonious geometry of Cezanne, yet others are contemporary, fresh and unexpected. A great example of this is her powerful painting - Story of the National Arboretum Canberra, 2020 where a heartbreaking narrative of the Australian bushfires and the regeneration of nature is conveyed through a whirlwind of colour, textual and topographic elements and landscape. It is an incredibly compelling work that reads like a patchwork story quilt. "I have long had the purpose to bring light and beauty to this world. My goal is to put focus onto the positive and lovely parts of life thus uplifting and inspiring as many people as possible. With this in mind, I want to take a moment to inject some extra colour and aesthetics into your day." - Valentyna Crane.