STATEMENT
	HOME NEW WORK COLLECTIONS VALLEY FIRE BEHIND THE SCENES THE BURN GRANA OFF CENTER MEMORIES IN RED DEAD END FLOWERS THE DAY NUMBERS EXHIBITIONS / AWARDS PUBLICATIONS BIO CONTACT
	© Yelena Zhavoronkova Photography		PENCIL DAD He always wanted to be an artist and drew all his life. While traveling, he would send us letters with small sketches—the green Caucasus Mountains seen from a window, a weirdly shaped water cup from a mineral resort, small details of a room.  At home, our walls were covered with large paintings. He would enlarge magazine reproductions of famous artworks onto canvas and paint them, little by little, with oils. Once, he let me add a stroke to one of his works. The painting is still with our family and I can spot the stroke right away. When, many years later, I saw the original at The State Russian Museum, it was like meeting an old friend.  7/22