I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia and graduated from the Moscow Institute of Business Education and the University of Tulsa with my B.B.A. on a NAFSA scholarship. When Russia was in a state of political and economical turmoil I relocated to the U.S. where I rediscovered my passion for art. I received my B.F.A. in studio art with honors from Oklahoma State University on a tuition-waiver scholarship and my M.F.A. in painting from Penn State in 2005. In 2007, I took an extensive oil painting workshop with the contemporary master of figurative art Michael Grimaldi in New York, and in 2008 I studied representational painting at the Art Students League of New York. In 2008 I was admitted to PA grant supported Artist-in-Residence Program of the Galaxy, the Arts in Education program. Several of my colored pencil drawings were juried to both the regional and national shows. In 2005 I was admitted to Artist-in-Residence Program of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art and Pittsburgh’s Tree Rivers Arts Festival Artist Market Emerging Artists Program. My artwork was published in �Leisure painter� and �Artists & Illustrators� - UK art magazines, �American Art Collector’s� focus page, April2009 as well as in several editions of literary magazines and in the �Datebook 2004� by Syracuse cultural workers, New York. My stories on art and artists are regular editions to the �Voices� local independent community newspaper. Currently, I show my artwork on-line at www.VeronicasArt.com, take part in exhibitions and teach both privately and publicly. I’ve received many private commissions in Europe and the U.S. I enjoy traveling and shooting pictures, many of which become subjects for my artwork. My representational style is influenced by master painters like Sargent, Mancini, Rembrandt, and Vermeer, and my futuristic content by Dali and many others. In my art I try to merge the realistically painted figure with the abstractly painted surroundings. In my work the mythology of trees and the female form personify nature’s grand command and signify the epitome of beauty. Consequently I hope to evoke elusive feelings in my viewers. ( View more » )