ABOUT THE ARTIST

The studio is a folding table by the river.

I'm a London-based painter working in pastel, watercolour, acrylic, and pastel. My work draws on florals and landscape studies, exploring colour, light, and mood through close observation of the natural world — each piece created individually as an original.

Alongside painting, I'm a passionate photographer, and the two practices feed into one another: the way I frame a landscape or study the fall of light through a lens often finds its way back onto the page. Together, they form a continuous exploration of the same subjects — nature, light, and quiet moments — through different mediums.

Portrait of the artist at the blue table

How a painting happens

ONE SITTING, START TO FINISH

The setup by the river — 1 · Set up before the lightThe easel opens on whatever flat spot the riverbank offers. Palette, water jar, one sheet of paper.

Painting wet-in-wet — 2 · Paint what's in frontBig shapes first, wet-in-wet, no sketching. If the light changes faster than the brush, the painting changes with it.

Finished pair drying — 3 · Done when the sun isThe sheet dries in the grass, gets signed and dated on the back, and goes home in a paper folder.

“I paint small so I can finish while the light is still the one I fell for.”

COMMISSIONS

A place that matters to you, painted on location.

I take a small number of commissions each season — a garden, a stretch of river, a table after lunch. Same rules as everything else: painted outdoors, one sitting, 13 × 18 cm. From £260 including shipping.

WRITE TO ME ON INSTAGRAM @nastya.ushchapo