Women in Art 278 Magazine October 2014 | Page 20

Ukrainian artist Elena Roush oil on canvas The soul of an artist is a mirror that reflects the colorful world around us. I use oils on canvas to display what I see and feel as an artist. I like to play with transitions between smooth and very rich textures. I have a unique approach to putting my paintings together by using a variety of tools ranging from the thinnest brushes to palette knives. If the subjects are very textured themselves, I try to create similar textures on canvas to help bring them to life. Using a thin brush I show the tiniest details that you will never get bored of looking at. We all are living in the world full of bustle, important and trivial things, troubles, worries, thoughts and wishes. Days go by, and sometimes we have no time to pause and notice how beautiful everything around us is. How often do we pay attention to the reflection of sunset on a building, the lighting of streets at night, or the colors of fall leaves? I particularly love looking at flowers and ripe fruit, feeling their texture with my fingertips, breathing in their smell, and of course: painting them. Like all people I am very busy doing my routine things, but as a painter I always look at the things around me from the artistic point of view. Three years ago I reevaluated my feelings about the world and what I do when I was diagnosed with advanced glaucoma. The doctor said that I would only be able to see for the next ten years. Since then I have had multiple surgeries to improve my vision. This is why I paint with even more passion and try to capture often overlooked, beautiful things in life. I am very grateful to everyone who loves my paintings because I have invested all my education, knowledge, experience, skill, my worldview and all of myself in them. I hope that my paintings will be interesting to people of all ages, education levels, and social environments, because with the bright palette of my paintings I am trying to show the world as warm and joyful. This is something everyone can appreciate. wom en ART page 20