Jana
Cheskidova

Born on March 30, 1970 in the town of Mirny, Arkhangelsk Region.
I drew like many children and at the age of 14, when the time came to think about going to an educational institution, my parents arranged me by acquaintance to the first class of the art school. And among the kids I learned a little bit basics of drawing and painting, to pass the exams in the Orenburg art school. In 1985 I entered the OCA to the painting-pedagogical department. Thought that I would be a teacher of drawing, but in 1986 I met the artists of the group "Sadki Academy" in the showroom, and it defined the future fate. Studying at the college was parallel to my creative life. Meetings with artists, discussing books and paintings - the main values were brought up exactly by the older talented friends. I started exhibiting in my third year of college.
In 1989 I married my classmate Alexander Kurilov (abstractionist painter) and we are happy together up to now.
It wasn't hard to join the Union of Artists in the '90s, but I didn't need to. I only wanted (and still want) to live and paint, and all the organized forms of creativity were not attractive.
In 1986, I first went to Tashla, a village in the mountains near Bashkiria. This trip had a global impact on my creativity and Tashla became a "place of power". Unwillingness to lose Tashla influenced my refusal to move to Moscow in order to develop my career. I have never regretted it. If only because art is not a career for me, but the inability to live otherwise.
Since 18 years - participation in group exhibitions in the cities of Orenburg, Yalta, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Perm, personal exhibitions in Orenburg. Group exhibitions in Europe.

In 1996 - group exhibition in Germany. "Gorbachev Foundation.
In 2000. - group exhibition at the Hôtel Drouot auction house, Paris.
2004 - the group exhibition in the auction house "Hotel Drouot", Paris.
2008 - the group exhibition "125 pictures of the artists of the Orenburg region" in MVK RAKh
(Moscow, Prechistinka, 19)
From 2006 to 2015. - group exhibitions:
г. Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), Berlin (Germany), Luxembourg, Brussels, Granada (Spain), Madrid. Leganes, Segovia (Spain).
2011 March. Paris. PARIS - DROUOT RICHELIEU. "Millon & Associes, Copenhagen.
2015 г. - Personal exhibition of watercolours "Sleepy Wind" in Rymgard (Denmark). Kunst og Kage Gallery.
2015 December. - The personal exhibition of watercolors "BLISTHE" in the Gallery "MP", Orenburg
2017 July - personal exhibition in the "Gallery on Pushkinskaya", Orenburg.

Since 1992 I started doing watercolours. The reason is simple - there is no money, the canvases and oil paints have run out, but paper and watercolours have not yet. So I drew on big flatbeds, made a drawing and colored. So it's not traditional watercolor. From 1992 to 1995, these were very candid works. Then I grew up - my characters got dressed up and did other things. With time watercolors became a way for me to express "delicate" feelings.
In 1996 my daughter Varvara, my new muse, was born.
Since 1997 we have had our own house in Tashla and in 2002 I painted a series of canvases called "Residents" ("The Soul Sings", "The Soul Flies", "The Soul Dances", "Brother Kolya Teaches Brother Leshu" etc.). When you live next to them you become that very inhabitant. You feel.
Our animals are always in the frame, too.
Basically all my paintings in any technique are stories about favorite places and people, close friends. I paint words.
The main thing in creativity is sincerity. The source of inspiration is the little things in life that make up my big world. The main thing is not to be afraid of making a mistake; otherwise you could spend your whole life standing in one place. I don't have a certain style; it's more the characters that grow with me and the unexpected themes that I create. A blank canvas is a fresh thought and a chance to give birth to a new world.