Growing up in Philadelphia in a bi-cultural setting, my art experience started with a community of Ukrainian artists in ‘diaspora’ @Ukrainian Art Institute in Philadelphia, which then continued at the Tyler School of Art and PAFA.

My love for pastels started about 7 years ago here in New Jersey… “I wanted to explore dense color down to my fingertips, and it seemed less complicated than oil painting”! I create in the studio but also love painting ‘EnPleinAir’. Painting outdoors is nature at its best, the challenge of light and color along side personal interpretation. More recently, I was thrilled to be inducted as a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of NJ in 2013; I am also a member of the Pastel Society of America in NewYork.