A Shirt. Oil on canvas, 2013. Red painting by Mikhail Kaban-Petrov

Red painting by Mikhail Kaban-Petrov acts as a symbolic message to the world, alarming and anxious.
Russian artist Mikhail Kaban-Petrov was born in 1969, in a small Siberian town of Reshety of Novosibirsk region. Mikhail graduated from Art school in Novoaltaisk, and then – Moscow Academy of Fine Arts. He is a Member of the Professional Artists Union of Russia. Mikhail Kaban-Petrov is a participant of numerous domestic and international exhibitions. His works are in the collections around the world.
According to the artist, he feels complete happiness in the fullest sense, only when he is in his studio. “I am more concerned about “I – tomorrow”, than “I am today”, or I am yesterday” – states the artist.
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Wet Snow. Acrylic on canvas. Painting by Russian artist Elena Schumacher. 2015

Russian artist Elena Schumacher
Born in 1969 in the city of Novomoskovsk, Tula region, Elena graduated from Smolensk Pedagogical Institute, the graphic arts department in 1993. She began to paint professionally only 15 years later, and according to art critics, it was the victory of art over the grayness of everyday life.
Noteworthy, in just five years of her artistic career, Elena managed to hold 13 solo exhibitions and several group exhibitions. Among them were exhibitions in such Russian cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Tula, and Novomoskovsk. Also, in France and Belarus. Her works are in private collections in Russia and abroad, as well as in the collection of the Tula Regional Art Museum.
In 2011, the artist was a finalist of the international competition of contemporary fine art ART-PREVIEW, and received a special prize from the German magazine “Ostwind”.
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Gold-dome Moscow. Vladimir Zhdanov Winter landscape

Vladimir Zhdanov Winter landscape
Born in the Siberian city of Omsk in 1959, Vladimir Zhdanov currently lives and works in the town of Pushkin (Saint-Petersburg). The artist is particularly captivated by the life of Russian peasants of the 19th century. Zhdanov works in oils, watercolors and pastels.
From 1980 to 1983 Zhdanov studied at Omsk State University, the graphic arts department, then entered the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Arts, from which he graduated in 1986. Prior to 1999, Zhdanov lived and worked in Siberia (Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Tobolsk and Tara). For several years he worked in the Siberian taiga village. Drawing landscapes from nature, has developed technology of oil and watercolors painting at low temperatures – to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
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Queen of Bohemia, daughter of James I, Elizabeth. 1605–1610. Nicholas Hilliard portrait miniature

Nicholas Hilliard portrait miniature art

Son of a citizen of Exeter, Hilliard founded the school of English miniature art, not only among courtiers ostentatiously vying with one another for the “Queen’s picture in little” at “forty, fifty or a hundred ducats apiece”, but among all who desired mementoes of their family or friends. Miniature painting went on at high level in England until the era of Cosway (Richard Cosway (1742 – 1821) – eminent English miniature painter, who portrayed all the beauty and fashion of his day) at the end of George III’s reign, and indeed it was only killed by photography. (G.M. Trevelyan. Illustrated English Social History).
The work of Hilliard was mainly confined to small scale portraiture. None the less he was a complete artist. In the Elizabethan, as in succeeding periods, portraiture was the only branch of art in Britain in which a painter could find a sure subsistence. The demand for miniatures, or liming, was a specialized section of this demand for portraiture. It had grown up in England in the 16th century and drew a part of its strength from the development of interest in jewellery and articles of personal adornment, chains, lockets, fans, engraved stones and so forth.
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Decorative panno. Miniature painting by Gracemere Woods (artists Kimera Wachna and Yuichi Watanabe)

Miniature painting by Gracemere Woods

The creative duo of artists Kimera Wachna and Yuichi Watanabe work in their art studio “Gracemere Woods”, in Tarrytown, New York, USA. All their hand crafted art objects – home decor, illustrations, wood burned ornaments, necklaces, and jewelry are inspired by the beauty of nature and spirit of the forest.

The artists work with such materials as Wood, Quartz, Amethyst, Maple, Pine, Cedar and Acrylic Paint. Each miniature painting on a cut down tree is one-of-a-kind, the product of harmony between a man and nature, intimate experience between the artist and the natural world.

“For years I worked long monotonous hours in the city, in front of a computer, and felt like I was contradicting my very existence”, says the artist. According to the artists, not long ago, they left their boring office work to start creating home decorations. Noteworthy, their first works were miniature ink paintings and wood-burned pieces.

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Red and white cat. Christmas eve in painting by Richard Macneil

Christmas eve in painting by Richard Macneil
Born in 1958 in Worcester (England), self-taught artist Richard Macneil started at Worcester Royal Porcelain factory, where he was engaged in sculpture, ceramics and graphics. Later he moved to the USA to work in a Fine Art company, which produced exclusive sculptures. Noteworthy, one of his artworks was displayed in the Oval office of The White House.

Richard Macneil, his wife Judi and sons Daniel and Kyle travel a lot, enjoying the European architecture and traditions. Currently the artist is living in his native England, working as a freelance artist in Worcestershire, UK. Richard has created a surprising number of stunning works, mostly cityscapes, depicting London and other European cities – Paris, and Venice.

The style, in which the artist works – using wide free strokes, it is impossible, for example, to depict small details of face. But he perfectly conveys the outline of the human figure and clothes.
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Hyper realistic painting by Australian artist Michael Zavros

Australian artist Michael Zavros
Born in Brisbane in 1974, Michael Zavros graduated from Queensland College of Art in the 1990s. Michael works in various genres: portrait, fantasy and animalistic, drawing floral and still life paintings. In a short time his work has become widely known thanks to his technique.
Michael paints with watercolors or oil on canvas, working through the details of the image with a fine brush, thereby achieving stunning photographic hyper-realism and accuracy.
For his incredible talent in hyper realistic direction, Zavros has become a many awarded artist. His awards include The Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award (2002), The Robert Jacks Drawing Prize (2005), the Kedumba Prize (2007), Primavera Collex award (2004), Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (2010), annual Archibald Prize (2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2013), and more.
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