Elena is an artist based in Chattanooga, TN USA. Elena always wanted to be an artist. As a child in Ukraine, she received a classical art education which she used for over a decade as an architect. It was an applied form of her desire to create art. Elena moved away from architecture into teaching art to children and painting when she could, and finally she was able to focus all her time being an artist and learning. She moved to America in 2013 and turned her full attention to painting. She tries to use every opportunity to learn anything new – new tools, mediums, techniques – anything new at all. Elena’s favorite subjects to paint are people with their personalities, moods, thoughts, and favorite things. “I really like to explore the personalities of my models through building the structure of portraiture with oil paint and paintbrush.” Her current focus is portraiture. She seeks a connection with the model that she can translate to the surface. Elena is a member of The Portrait Society of America. She received an award of Signature Status with the Portrait Society of America in 2022.