New Artworks
Welcome to the website of Lena Kurovska, a contemporary (modern) impressionist artist. Inspired by the best impressionist traditions, Lena created her own beautiful style. All her artworks are painted en plein air, they are full of light, colours and positive energy. Enjoy the website and feel free to contact the artist for additional information or to discuss a potential purchase.
Lena graduated from The National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture of Ukraine, where a lot of attention was paid to the studies and painting of the human body. After the Academy, she became very interested in outdoor painting. Lena believes that the direct contact with nature helps artworks to look alive and fresh and also express the inner side of the plein-air artist. At the same time the contact with nature is a permanent circle – impression-idea, idea-impression. She often paints the same familiar places a few times and every time the result is different, as the understanding and impression are different.
“In the cultures of different countries are very similar painters. Apart from the Ukrainian colourists I am a fan of Canadian artists Group of 7, American artists Edgar Payne, Maynard Dixon, Scottish colourists and others”
Most of the time Lena is painting outdoors. To paint a large size artwork, she combines the work en plain air and in her studio. Small paintings she can finish in one day. It is very important to adopt an idea to the changing state of the landscape. The work starts from small outdoor sketches, composition idea, the beginning of the work in the studio, then continuation en plein air etc. Small landscapes, painted en plein air have its special value. They are able to catch this momentarily unrepeatable impression.
“In a small sketch, it is very important to catch and show the moment and disappearing impression. Landscape painting is very similar to meditation. It is a constant concentration, a study of feelings when you have to select the most important, what creates the base for the individual. One can admire the nice painting forever and not to be bores of it. Simplicity is very important. Very often less is better.”
Lena works with oil painting a la prima that needs quite high speed of work. This technique requires the ability to create and keep in your head the whole artwork. There is no really time for hesitation and corrections. The weather and light change all the time. All thinking and planning work is done before she starts working. Sometimes the idea is spontaneous. It is almost impossible to guess what the landscape painter (artist) will see every time in the same familiar place. Still life is also the artist’s passion. Original plein air paintings for sale. Oil paintings for sale.
“Still life paintings with peonies for example, are similar to a landscape painting. Flowers fade quickly and change as quickly as the weather. I paint them outdoors as well as in my studio. But wherever you work, it is important to find a balance of the form and organize the colouring“