"Two Magnolias" Painting

Ariela Stem is a professional artist, designer, and illustrator whose artistic practice combines fine art, graphic design, and decorative and applied arts.

She began her artistic education at the Moscow Art College of the Academy of Arts and continued her studies at the Stroganov Russian State University of Design and Applied Arts, Moscow, specializing in Monumental and Decorative and Applied Arts, with a focus on artistic glass and ceramics, monumental and decorative sculpture, and painting. During her studies, she created murals and sculptural compositions in fireclay and ceramics, as well as porcelain and earthenware sets featuring her own hand-painted designs. She also developed an extensive body of graphic works and paintings and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Decorative and Applied Arts.

Ariela subsequently built a professional career as an artist and designer. At William Reed, one of Britain’s leading media companies, she created covers and illustrations for its publications. Her illustrations have also appeared in magazines including Shape, Elle, Cigar Clan, Ideas for Your Home, and In View for the Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow.

Her commercial design experience includes collaborations with international advertising agencies Wunderman Thompson and TBWA Worldwide, working on projects for adidas, Volkswagen Group, Toyota, Mondelēz International, Carte Noire, Jacobs, and Audi. She also created a collection of stickers for Viber. As part of the TBWA creative team, she contributed to an award-winning adidas running campaign that received an Effie Award.

Ariela began exhibiting her paintings while still studying at university, presenting her work in galleries in Prague (Czech Republic). Today, her paintings and graphic works are held in private collections in various countries.

Her paintings are distinguished by light, energy, expressive brushwork, and a strong sense of movement. Through dynamic compositions and bold color combinations, she seeks to convey emotion, atmosphere, and the vitality of everyday life. Her works are intended not only to enrich an interior visually, but also to bring a sense of warmth, light, and positive energy into the surrounding space.

In 2023, the Israel State Arts Committee formally recognized Ariela’s professional excellence and awarded her the status of Particularly Distinguished Artist of the State of Israel.