Portfolio: Darya Gavroff

"The need to discover a creative aspect within oneself is commonly found among people regardless of their occupation. Creativity as such is a state of being, a way of looking at and relating to the world around, a journey within towards realization of one’s deepest potential, a never-ending conversation with God."   "I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the artistic family: my grandfather was a writer, my mother was an artist and my father – a doctor by trade – wrote poems and short stories. My aesthetical views were formed under the influence of my family. The formidable beauty of the city I grew up in as well as the annual excursions to the old Russian cities and distant villages played a considerable role in an awakening of my artistic vision. I studied drawing and painting since I was a kid, graduating from the city art school. I also was incredibly interested and well read in psychology, literature and history. When the time came to pursue a higher education, I chose the department of Art History and Theory in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts."   "After moving to the United States, I received Bachelor’s Degree in Desktop Publishing and Web Page Design and spent a few years working as a freelance graphic designer for several companies in New York. A few months spent in France shaped and refined my present artistic goals and aspirations: the remarkable collections of Edgar Degas’ works exhibited in the museum of Orsay revealed to me the beauty and expressive opportunity of pastel and I fell in love with this medium."   "This revelation helped me through one of the hardest periods in my life when - after an accident - I was home bound for several months. I spent days in a chair drawing flowers that people kept bringing me with a set of pastels given to me by my husband. The revelations kept following one after another – I got to experience the liberating sense of freedom despite the lack of physical movement, the joy and inspiration that made me forget about physical pain; I got to realize that it is never too late to begin – once again – the journey within searching for that hidden (yet perceived so clearly at an early age) potential that defines who and what I am."