Olya’s childhood is deeply connected with the Crimea, where she spent all of her summers. Olya feels that her childhood memories have been stolen. Later, she often returned to Crimea on artistic quests. Her paintings full of premonitions of Russian aggression were exhibited in Crimea, and as far as she knows they are still there. In 1988 she received an AM from Academy of Fine Art in Lviv. On arriving in the UK, Olya lived for several years in Bedfordshire and found inspiration in the local nature, in wildflowers, in the quiet poetry of rural life. As a result, in 2018-2019, she participated in several exhibitions of the Chelsea Art Society in London. During the covid lockdown, she took part in a large art charity portrait project for key workers. Several of her portraits were on display on Oxford Street. In 2020, her landscape and abstract watercolours were selected for an exhibition of the Society of East Anglian Watercolourists. ‘Torbay reminds me of the Crimean landscape. I am mourning for the loss of my harmonious childhood world. The more I looked into ordinary things, the more hidden treasures I found and this approach allowed me to find my home and my inspiration -where I am. Watercolour is the language of my feelings and thoughts. Wherever I am, I look for a connection of stories that have not yet happened or have happened in the past. These signs, symbols, traces are as pervasive as the water that carries the pigment to the appropriate place on paper. The purpose of my experiments in watercolour is to show the magical nature of this technique. It is important for me not to lose the whiteness and freshness of the paper, thus leaving the room for unproven future signs.’