Crimea. The beginning of my artistic journey.
The first stage of my artistic development was shaped by the influence of my parents, Mykola and Tamara Chebotaru. I grew up in Inkerman, a district of Sevastopol. As a child, I loved being in my parents’ studio, admiring their paintings, and sensing the smell of paint and solvents.
My father would take my brother and me on plein air trips across Crimea and Ukraine. Of course, my early works were naïve, but I was fascinated by the process, watching him apply paint to canvas, as a picture slowly took shape, brushstroke by brushstroke.
In the mid-1990s, my parents opened an art school in Inkerman, and I became one of their first students. It was at that time I knew clearly that I wanted to devote my life to art. After completing art school, I entered the Samokysh Crimean Art College while continuing my general education.
Studying at the N.S. Samokysh Crimean Art College
The five years I spent at the Samokysh Art College flew by — filled with strong emotions, travel, and the rhythm of student life. My first instructor in painting was V.I. Hryhoriev.
During these years, I fell in love with plein air painting. Each year, our course would go on two-week plein air trips across Crimea — to Balaklava, Sevastopol, the Vorontsov Palace, Simeiz, or Koktebel. I was fascinated by the atmosphere — painting outdoors, discovering new views daily, and capturing the ever-changing light and mood of nature.
It was a magical feeling to translate these impressions onto canvas. Every free moment, I took my sketch box and went out to paint — whether it was the sea, a park, or architecture. The subject didn’t matter; what mattered was being part of the process. To be captivated by nature is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world.
Studying at the N.S. Samokysh Crimean Art College
The five years I spent at the Samokysh art college flew by — filled with strong emotions, travel, and the rhythm of student life. My first instructor in painting was V.I. Hryhoriev.
During these years, I fell in love with plein air painting. Each year, our course would go on two-week plein air trips across Crimea — to Balaklava, Sevastopol, the Vorontsov Palace, Simeiz, or Koktebel. I was fascinated by the atmosphere — painting outdoors, discovering new views daily, and capturing the ever-changing light and mood of nature.
It was a magical feeling to translate these impressions onto canvas. Every free moment, I took my sketch box and went out to paint — whether it was the sea, a park, or architecture. The subject didn’t matter; what mattered was being part of the process. To be captivated by nature is one of the most beautiful feelings in the world.
Travels through Crimea
Even after graduating from art college, I often returned to Crimea. Before the annexation of the peninsula in 2014, my parents lived in Sevastopol, and I visited them regularly. Sevastopol served as a starting point — I would set out by car, traveling through Laspi Pass, Foros, Simeiz, Gurzuf, Sudak, all the way to Koktebel. I stayed in each of these places for several days or weeks, painting the surrounding nature.
Sometimes I slept under the open sky on beaches and cliffs or set up a tent. Food cooked over an open fire, freshly caught fish from the sea — nothing tasted better. My car became both home and studio. Every day brought new inspiration: breathtaking landscapes, changing light, and new people. It was one of the most joyful times of my life.
After Crimea was annexed, I never returned. I moved my parents to Kyiv, and the thread connecting me to my Crimean home was severed. But the vivid, joyful memories of that time will stay with me forever.
27 July 2025
