Oxana Babkina

Have you ever been so passionate about something in your life that you cannot seem to be able to separate yourself from this passion? So passionate that it becomes an integral part of your life story. Here is one person’s story whose passion for Art has turned into a life’s purpose.

Oxana Babkina is a young fine artist. She is an Almaty native, a picturesque city surrounded by beautiful mountains and nature in the country of Kazakhstan, Ex-Soviet Union, now living and working in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, it is a gorgeous and inspiring place to be and work in.

Ever since she was a little girl her favorite toys were coloured pencils, markers, paint and paper! Back then all she wanted to do was creating colorful images. Babkina is very thankful now to her mother who could not help noticing her daughter’s interests and taking her further along this artistic path providing her with opportunities to develop her skills.

After graduating high school in 2004 Oxana continued her education in Fine Arts. She spent five years at University of Kazakhstan studying, as she recalls it, very interesting subjects and areas of artistic world, including painting, drawing, architecture and elements of interior designing. Needless to say for a determined artist all this knowledge was a great asset, but not satisfying enough, too technical almost. Babkina kept searching and exploring different mediums and styles trying to feel and find what would inspire her work. She had been working with a few local artists before moving to Canada who helped her boost her confidence and professionalism.

But all of that was before she tried working with soft pastels and blending those with her fingers which gives a personal touch and connection with an artist’s soul and surely makes it 100% handmade masterpiece. And that’s when she did feel she had fallen in love! Have you even seen how realistic, almost alive her flowers are? It’s breathtaking and makes you want to still and admire, for at least a few moments forget about everything else. Isn’t this magical? What else if not this is a purpose of an artist truly fulfilled?

Let’s also mention Oxana’s other line of artwork which is botanical. She simply enjoys painting nature – certain flowers. According to her, when she is working on her projects she is trying to stay away from traditional rules of composition, but instead she wants to show that natural beauty the way it actually is, the way she captured it. “Victoria” (20150, as an example, was born after visiting the Museum of Flowers on Victoria Island.  “From Pink to Red” (2016) was inspired by a bouquet of flowers unexpectedly presented.

Soft pastels, according to Babkina, is the best medium for her to reflect fineness and transparency of what you are imagining of creating.

Not only is Oxana Babkina is an inspirational artist, she also is a successful art instructor. Oxana has been running a few different visual art programs for adults and children from her studio in Red Deer, AB for almost two years now. Kids get to develop their artistic skills at this young age by getting involved into regular classes using all possible mediums and ideas to create. And adults get to forget for a couple-three hours that they are adults with day-to-day problems and engage into acrylic or oil or pastel projects suggested and instructed by Oxana. Needless to say that at the end of each session every single person leaves her studio with their own masterpiece, uplifted, rested and happy.