About the Artist
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Hi, my dear friends!
Thank you for stopping by my website! My name is Galina, I’m 30 and currently living in Ukraine. Since childhood, the love of drawing has led me in small steps to my big dream of becoming an icon painter. To a greater extent, my life choice was influenced by the family in which I was brought up, because my father is a priest, and I am very proud of this. Since childhood, my soul and worldview have absorbed everything spiritual.
And so, it all started when I was 16 years old. While still at school, I began to seriously engage in this direction by attending icon painting classes. I had good teachers who helped me love icon painting even more and armed me with skills, knowledge, and experience. It helped me not to give up and keep moving forward. By the grace of God, in 2012 I started working in the icon-painting workshop of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. At that time, my experience already allowed me to draw small orders and participate in the life of the workshop. I was lucky to study and communicate with many talented icon painters of Ukraine. It helped me a lot and inspired me to work even harder and grow faster and faster.
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But it was also very important for me to get an artistic education, so a year later I entered the Mykhailo Boichuk Kyiv State Academy of Decorative-Applied Arts and Design. Studying at the academy gave me wonderful memories and increased my skills and knowledge. During this time I combined my studies with work in the icon-painting workshop. After graduating in 2016, I continued working in an icon-painting workshop and taking individual orders.
So I started my journey. I get great joy from the distribution of icons around the world and thank God for the opportunity to share my work with your homes and churches. Let the holy icons help you change daily, improve daily and go up the steps from earth to heaven, from this earthly and temporary state to that which is heavenly and eternal - this is the goal of the Christian life. The purpose of the icon is not to lead us out of this world, but to make Christ and the Saints present with us here and now in our own time and space, the very thing that happens in the Divine Liturgy. This is the liturgical and ecclesiastic function of the icon. Only in prayer can an icon fulfill its purpose. Being a strict judge of my work, I have set as my main objective, to present a work constantly improving, fulfills its purpose, and remains faithful to the spirit and doctrine of the Orthodox Church.
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The miracle of common prayer.
Choosing a particular icon painter involves trusting her as a professional and as a servant of God. The professionalism of an icon painter is expressed not only in good arts education, but also in her accurate knowledge of the canons, her visual experience, and her iconographic outlook. Through prayer, God sends us an icon painter, helps us come to a mutual understanding, and finally, reveals the desired image through her. This is the miracle of common prayer and Divine Providence.
Faithful to tradition.
I strive to do is use the same Byzantine system used throughout all periods and schools of Byzantine painting, that is, the use of line, color, composition, and perspective to create icons that fulfill the ecclesiastical and liturgical function of the icon which is to bring the viewer into communion with the person depicted here and now. In my studio, I paint the icons by using only traditional powder pigments from minerals of different colors, which are found in stones, clay, and sand. These natural materials are the same colors that the old iconographers used many years ago. I never use acrylics or other industrial colors. As a binder for paints, I use an emulsion, which is prepared on dry white wine and egg yolk. I usually work on prepared linden wood panels and use a linen varnish. All materials and technology ensure the longevity of the icons. I use a fairly dry brush and will paint two or three thin layers of color. Then I build up the layers using diluted and condensed layers of color, again with an almost dry brush. I prefer this technique because it is tested on time. Most of the icons which were painted many years ago, by the old iconographers, are still preserved in very good condition today. First and foremost, my goal is to present work done with professionalism and of the highest quality. Work done with love and devotion.
Inspiration
I find my deepest well of inspiration purely in life itself. I am overwhelmed by the beauty of creation. The artist is always closely connected with nature, inspired by it. Because in nature the Lord appears to us. Is the greatest Artist/Creator of all. But it is also very important for me to constantly explore something new, to study both ancient and modern icons, frescoes and mosaics. I always find great comfort in this study. I do not aspire to mechanical copying. I think iconography should not be characterized by static, photocopying, and sterile imitation of past images. The artist must widen, enrich and renew constantly his work. In a stylistic search, I choose only what resonates with me personally, absorbing beautiful aesthetic principles, artistic ideas, and techniques. I'm not tied to a particular style. My goal is to create an author's icon in an independent and very recognizable manner in which artistic freedom will be felt while observing the canons. And most importantly, I believe that the icon I painted will be important and necessary for you and that it will occupy a significant place in your home and personal life.