Vira Ustianska is a Ukrainian artist and art teacher. She has a master’s degree in painting from Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Art, where she studied at the portrait-genre workshop under the guidance of professors Victor Chaus and Vasily Ganotskiy. Among her many accolades, she has been a curator of the Drawing Studio at the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia. In 2017 she opened a studio of academic painting, ‘V-ART’ and taught painting, drawing, plastic anatomy, coloring, and composition at the collegiate level. In 2022, she was evacuated to the USA due to the war in Ukraine. Over the past 2 years she has created around 300 paintings, and takes part in art shows throughout San Diego.

“I think it is, like musical notes, that in painting, we do not have borders, we do not have words, and we have Inspiration… pure inspiration is indescribable; you can just feel and take it. That’s precisely why I share these paintings, which were created in San Diego County and reflect the light and landscapes that inspire me every day. It is my goal to build a bridge between the modern impressionistic paintings I have created here in California with South-East Ukrainian Impressionistic Art and Inspire us all to live and feel life!”