Maria Danishvar, painter and iconographer.

"I was born in Ukraine and spent my childhood in Afghanistan, moving to Moscow in 1983, where I went to school, art school and Art College in the Memory of 1905, from which I qualified as an artist and art teacher. Having moved to the UK in 1997, trying to establish myself as an exhibiting artist, I continued teaching art as well as developing my second passion-classical singing for which I  received extensive training at music colleges of Moscow and Kiev.

Having lived in different countries, I got to know different communities, professional circles and cultures. As a young student I was fortunate to spend a lot of time at the Bolshoi and Helikon Theatres and got to know many ballets and ballet dancers, who greatly inspired my artistic work. Their awe-inspiring beauty, athleticism, discipline and musicality moved me to observe, draw and paint series of paintings dedicated to ballet.

My other strong attraction has been portraiture and seascape. Portrait is one of the most difficult genre and I found life-drawing classes with my Tutor Saied Dai, one of Britain's most renowned artists and portrait painters enormously challenging and helpful. Capturing the essence of a person-is what we aspire to in portraiture. Seascape and landscape is also a " portrtait" in a way, as I try  to capture the atmosphere, and how it makes me feel. I am fascinated by harbours, fishing boats and the light on the water, light shining  through the trees, twilight in a city, last glow of a sunset...

Having come to volunteer at Griffin Growers community, I embraced the ethos of Griffin projects, which resonates with my deep desire to live simply, in tune with nature, to listen to what birds and plants have to say. Spending time in silence in nature is a deeply moving and life-affirming experience. Going to places of a spiritual significance and contemplating them gives birth to my new drawings and paintings...Icon painting is something I have always dreamed of doing and it's hard as it requires a big " Leap of Faith" and a lot of contemplative time, which is not easy to find for a married person with many duties and responsibilities.

I am someone, who celebrates life in all it's forms, and I am constantly fascinated by the beauty I see around me. I try to share this with the youngsters who come to learn from me in my studio, where I " hold space" several times a week for this reason

Classes are available for all ages (On Tuesdays and Wednesdays):

Drawing

Painting

Sculpture

Collage

Icon Painting

Contacts

@maria_danishvar_artist

@mariadanishvar (studio account)

E-mail: maria.danishvar@outlook.com

Website: www.maria-danishvar.com

Tel: 07402 890775