Heart of Gold Painting

Art has always been woven into my life. My grandfather, Gleb W. Derujinsky, was a renowned sculptor, and my father, Gleb Derujinsky, was a celebrated Harper’s Bazaar fashion photographer. Growing up surrounded by their creativity instilled in me a deep appreciation for artistic expression across different mediums. My own journey began with jewelry design, where I spent 20 years traveling the country, exhibiting at fine art shows, and winning awards for my work—despite early skepticism about beadwork as a true art form. Later, I turned my focus to preserving my father’s legacy, which led to the publication of Capturing Fashion Derujinsky (Flammarion, 2018), a book celebrating his iconic fashion photography. Now, I redefine traditional dyeing techniques as fine art. Using the same high-quality cotton canvas that painters use for oil and acrylics, I apply permanent watercolor dyes to create vivid yet subtly muted compositions. My distinctive circular artworks—ranging from small, intimate pieces to large-scale installations—explore themes of space, nature, and human connection. Each piece is meticulously crafted, embracing imperfection and movement, inviting collectors to engage with the art in a personal and evolving way. "Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips, and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exits in a 'man' of 60, more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by the number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideas. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." ~Anomomous