My name is Elena Agaltseva-Barskaya, I'm an artist and photographer currently based in Karelia (Russia). My major inspiration comes from Northern nature of my homeland, Finland and Scandinavia.
Being also a folk art specialist, I really like mixing various ethnic motifs and traditional crafts in my own art. As a language instructor and researcher, I travel a lot and meet people from all over the world; these contacts always get embedded into my heart and enrich my cultural palette, which then transforms into new colors and shades on my canvases.
As for my painting manner, it is rooted in photography and French impressionism. Since schoolyears I've been an 'optics nerd' :) I pay great attention to the lighting effects, shadows, lights, color tones and tint effects. Abstract painting and conceptual photography give me an endless field for experiments.
Art has always been my major tool for self-understanding and expressing my insights. For me, it is a splendid universal language for sharing philosophy, view of life and inner discoveries. Sharing my paintings and pictures with you is my way to give you my soul treasures by connecting to your hearts and minds via eyes and touch.
This is how I get my inspiration. Just going out from home and driving 10 minutes from the city...
The first set of eco-bags with the most popular prints of my artworks is ready :) Me, my cat and my customers from Karelia are so happy!
Lots of work these days keep me feel alive and believe in future. That's why I'm constanty inventing new projects based on my previous ones :)
Shoppers with my artworks' prints is not quite an originaal idea, anyway, it has already made a couple of people so happy! May I wish more today?... 
