Some days are colorful but other are a bit dark and melancholic .. The day that we stumbled over Olyatra and her art was not one of these dark days, but combined the colorfulness along with a bit of melancholy (which changed a lot afterwards) … OlYatra an Art VegaN Story .. a bIt of YogA too …

• So Olyatra please introduce yourself to the art world of M.A.G. with a few words … (When did u start, where are u coming from, your name and anything that u like to share about u)

hi, my name is olya and i am a self taught artists with professional and academic background in science and a life long admiration of nature.

i started my profound relationship and involvement with arts around 4 years ago, when i worked in a huge corporation as a marketing executive. i used to have those moleskin notebooks for my meeting and work related notes, back then i lived in England and often had to travel around the country. I loved the old architecture and it is safe to say that me creating art began with making sketches of those buildings, streets, people. it sparked my interests, because while sketching i realised a lack of understanding i had around drawing , so i’d read online, watch lessons, buy books also, UK has the most amazing museums and that is where i spend most of my free time, i felt art with my bones and i could not just have enough.

also, i been dating a guy who is still a very good friend and he loved me making those sketches, so when he was away for work, he’d give me little assignments to draw , all together those activities provoked me to draw more, learn more.

and, one day in a coffeeshop during my lunch a certain gentleman asked if he could share a table, i agreed and seeing me sketch he got interested, he asked to look around my notebook at those doodles and reckoned they are quite nice. he happened to be an artist and we had a good conversation,  i remember him telling me ‘ take care of your gift and the gift will take care of you’ – ever since i became committed to arts, i had a vague idea of how it must go, but my heart been completely into it, so i made a promise to draw something every single day. that is how it all started for me

• What drew your attention mostly to your art?

i am afraid, do not understand this question if you mean to ask what drew me to art in general – it is hard for me to explain it was a feeling, i felt like when i am with art – in books, museums, or creating art myself – i immerse into a field that feels like home.

• How did u decide to become an artist and especially a painter?

as mentioned earlier, i never decided to be a painter, however i did decide to commit myself to it. it felt so ‘ like home’ that i almost feel as i had no choice, i still feel like if i’d stop making art, i’d probably die, it is an outlet for me – for love, for peace, for being my most true self.

• What are your main objects – feelings – thoughts – experience that create your inspirations for your work ?

honestly? on the one hand i can say – everything, because i literally am inspired 24/7, whether things are happy or sad it’s all the same joy to me to be apply to pour love , feel love inside of myself regardless of circumstances and let it out through the work of my hands – i feel blessed and grateful for it.

• Are your paintings thematic or colorful experiments ?

depending on what kind of paintings you mean

abstract pieces are deeply intuitive, it is like …. i know something s valuable no words can describe, and somehow i can only communicate she this goodness with others through painting.

portraits, on the other hand, usually have a theme… but to be very frank, i feel as all series of portraits i create, resolve around the same theme – humility, i long to remind of it, celebrate it.

• Are there any emotions expressed through your art and your living as a vegan and a yogi?

of course there are! and again, me being vegan there is something  there about humility too.

• What are your thoughts for art as it is today and what about the future?

in a commercial sense – hard to say, i am not an expert in how to feel or curate art. but in a sense of its implicit value – i believe fine art will always have a place, often it transmits something no other tangible product can provide, it’s like art can feed our most deep thirsts, evoke most amazing emotions, and bring people together. remind us what being human is, how amazing life is.

• Do u feel that there will be a time that digitalisation will overcome the natural painting art?

this time might come, but i doubt that digital painting can ever outgrow value of the original art. however, to me the main component of a valuable work – is how much heart an artists had put into it, and maybe digital art could be as soulful as original. but on my personal opinion, a medium of computer/tablet is less vivid then the canvas, or peper. it is more distant from the artist. you know?

• What do u think of the creation of an art social network that will try to create an umbrella for artists all over the world? Give us your advice and points

it is an amazing idea, i believe it can strengthen community of artists and aspire people to admiration of live, as a result – make more people happy.

– What are your main goals through your art as a painter?

let out, share as much beauty and love as i possibly can to as many people, communities i can, to serve with it.

– What is art for u?  reality. and – home.

– Would u participate in some of our events here in Athens – Hellas? YES

• What would be your basic advice to all these youngsters craving to become artists and try living through it?

to be grateful and hardworking. if the person is genuinely talented, it comes from above, a real gift, a groundbreaking gift – can never be a result of hard work, nor luck, it is something we are given, the glory is not our – so we must be grateful. at the same time , the gift will not sustain itself so we have to be committed to hard work in order to keep it alive and blooming.

• If u had the chance what would be the three different points that u would change in the art world and its forms – structure, as it is today?

I turn to believe, that however subjectively convenient or inconvenient things are at a certain moment – it is just the way they are suppose to be.

it would be amazing if all museums in the world would be free, that – would be a major source of education, equality and, if you ask me – healing for humanity.

• Do u feel that u have succeeded in placing yourself as an artist through the art world?

depends on how one defines success

I’d love to multiply beauty within and around myself, around and for other people as much as i can –  the latitude i have now is good, and i am grateful for it, at the same time i’d love to be able to share , create even more, remind people of even more beauty, bring it up in them – so, answering your question – am on the way, I hope.:)