Artist Statement

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I often start with a meditation to connect with my untamed spirit. I do it by listening to the line moving across the paper to understand what it wants to express and then to surrender to its desire. Listening to the line is much more important than guiding it because art is a direct way of communicating with the human spirit. My whole life I’ve been using art as a tool to help others, to open them up, to heal, to start them on a new adventure. In reality, I was helping myself to have courage, to trust life, and to be ready to meet the unknown.

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Biography 

A Russian-born Elena Zelenina grew up in the studios of two artists, M.Biryukov (1926-1995), her stepfather and Godfather, and N.Gladkih (1927-1995), her uncle. Spending summers by the sea watching her uncle painting with all shades of blue and green, or being in the studio alongside her stepfather to a great extent shaped Elena’s artistic vision. However, they differ significantly since both, her uncle and her stepfather magnified the beauty of the real world, whereas Elena often paints the inexplicit reality. For years Elena wondered who she was as an artist. She met her creative destiny while traveling through India, surrounded by vibrant ineffable colors of this vast country. In 2008 she trekked the Himalayan Mountains where she stood above the clouds in complete awe of the place and the creation. A shock wave went through her body that allowed her to feel and realize her potential as an artist. Exploring India became her new journey. The music, the food, the spirit were almost addictive. As she went deeper into herself, Elena felt the craving to come back again and again. During her travels, Elena discovered the navigation map of the Creative Spirit, Vedic Art. In 2013, she became a certified Vedic Art Instructor, which revealed her true purpose. Elena’s identity as an artist is to help others experience the state of Oneness and realize their highest potential, the concepts she explores at length in her book “Art Completes You. Transformation through Art and The Science of Completion.”