Welcome to my website! My name is Elena Nashchanskaya, I am an artist from Rostov-on-Don, and since 1999, I have been living and working in Greece.
My artistic journey is a path where the change of styles and directions has become a reflection of life’s transformations, and a chain of coincidences connects all events as if by invisible threads of fate. For instance, during my final year at the Southern Federal University (Faculty of Fine Arts), while giving lectures on Byzantine iconography at the Rostov Museum of Fine Arts, I became deeply intrigued by the period when the development of Russian icons halted due to the long and difficult Tatar-Mongol invasion, while Byzantine iconography continued to evolve. As I studied the faces of saints, I thought about how wonderful it would be to restore that lost layer of icon painting.
Imagine my surprise when, a few years later, fate led me to the distant Peloponnese, to the Church of St. Irene, where I had the unique opportunity to study the long-lost period of Byzantine iconography and immerse myself in the very soul of that era, filled with prayers and the mysteries of the masters. Having dedicated 17 years of my life to iconography, I am still amazed and inspired by the Macedonian School of Art, engaging in a silent dialogue about beauty, faith, and what is truly important in the creation of holy images.
I started drawing from a very young age. I remember feeling like a true magician: as soon as I touched the paper with a pencil, any image I imagined would come to life, and the once blank sheet could tell a vivid story. Back then, I wanted to share my magic with good people.
Fate smiled upon me — after graduating from university, I was invited to teach at the "Wisdom" school, where the program I developed received high praise from the wonderful children, their parents, and my colleagues. Now, having completed another cycle, life has brought me back to teaching — I am discovering new talents and continuing to create my own artworks, participating in exhibitions and festivals.