pen and ink

Bye 2020! at the Blind Insect Multicultural Art Gallery & Shop

Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering II ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6"Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6" x 4"

So happy that “Gathering II” and “Gathering III” have been selected for the Bye 2020! exhibition at Blind Insect Gallery! The show will be up December 11th, 2020 – Friday, January 15th, 2021. Blind Insect is an amazing little gallery on Alberta Street, Portland, it’s always full of wonderful artsy gems, and I can’t wait to see what the show will look like.

Show dates:
December 10, 2020 – January 15, 2021

Gallery location: 2841 NE Alberta St, Portland OR 97211 (directions)
Open: Wednesday – Sunday, 11 am – 4 pm

There are so many amazing small artworks by 36 local and national artists, come enjoy them!

Visit Online Store for Bye 2020!




    “Gathering” series at the Three Rivers Gallery and Gifts

    Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

    I am excited to have my drawings in the Three Rivers Gallery & Gifts through March and April. The gallery is located inside the cozy Singer Hill Cafe in Oregon City. The gallery is hung salon style and offers paintings, drawings, ceramics, jewelry, and about anything you can think of. The cafe serves excellent coffee and features beautiful vertical gardens indoors and outdoors.

    The artists’ reception will be on March 19, 2017 from 1 to 3 pm. Stop by if you are in the area to meet the artists and see their wonderful art.

    Gathering I – pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″
    Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″
    Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6″ x 4″
    Gathering IV ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 4″
    Gathering V ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 4″

    Address: 613 7th Street, Oregon City, Oregon 97045, inside Singer Hill Cafe
    Open: every day, 9 am – 4 pm.

      A sketch a day: Frozen ~ pen and ink, graphite pencil on Canson drawing paper, 6″ x 4″

      Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

      Yelena Shabrova ~ A sketch a day: Frozen ~ pen and ink, graphite pencil on Canson drawing paper, 6" x 4"
      pen and ink, graphite pencil on Canson drawing paper, 6″ x 4″

      It started with a reference photo of majestic icicles which I managed to lose shortly after mapping some details in pencil. Not willing to dig through my huge and badly documented collections of shots taken over 15+ years, I decided to continue on my own and see where it ends. Somehow it ended in an abstract that has little to do with icicles or anything else of that kind, but it was fun to work through it without much commitment to the end result.

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        Gathering V (rocks in pen and ink, 4″ x 4″) finished

        Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

        Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering V ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4" x 4"
        pen and ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 4″

        This last little drawing completes the “Gathering” series. It going to be a while before I want to anything other than single drawings.

        The original ($80.00) and prints are available in my online shop as a part of the “Pen and ink” collection.

        See the first four pieces in this series:

        Gathering I, by Yelena-Shabrova - pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6" Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6" Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6" x 4" Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering IV ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4" x 4"

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          SVOS Winter Preview Exhibit at the San Jose Bridge Club 2015

          Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

          I will have two of my older pieces at the San Jose Bridge Center from January 27 till April 28, 2015:

          Yelena Shabrova ~ New Spring I ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75" x 4.75"
          New Spring I ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75″ x 4.75″

          Yelena Shabrova ~ New Spring II ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75" x 4.75"
          New Spring II ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75″ x 4.75″

          There will be no reception for this show.

          The San Jose Bridge Center is located at 1300 White Oak, Suite 103, Campbell, CA.

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            Gathering IV (rocks in pen and ink, 4″ x 4″) finished

            Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

            Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering IV ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4" x 4"
            Gathering IV ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 4″

            The fourth piece in the “Gathering” series got no horses, it is dedicated to the beauty of many rock patterns.

            I think I will do the final piece the same way, without any representative images. Most comments that I get about this series is about the beauty of rocks themselves it seems fitting to get back to the original idea and focus on that.

            The original ($80.00) and prints are available in my online shop as a part of the “Pen and ink” collection.

              9th Annual HARK! Exhibit & Sale

              Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

              I will have a few pen and ink pieces in this show:

              Gathering I, by Yelena-Shabrova - pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6"
              Gathering I – pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″

              Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6"
              Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″

              Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6" x 4"
              Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6″ x 4″

              If you are in the area, stop by for the opening reception on December 5th, starting at 7 pm.

              HARK! 9th annual holiday exhibit & sale is open from December 5th, 2014 through January 16, 2015.

              KALEID gallery is located at 88 S 4th St, San Jose, California 95112

                Gathering III (rocks in pen and ink, 6″ x 4″) – in progress

                Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

                Updated: October 26, 2014

                It’s finished. I like how it turned out more than the first two pieces in the series.

                The original ($80.00) and prints are available in my online shop as a part of the “Pen and ink” collection.

                Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering III ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6" x 4"

                Updated: October 17, 2014

                So most of my ideas are not suitable for small shapes and have to be put aside for now. I think there is a larger rocky piece in my feature; meanwhile this one continues to take shape.

                Gathering III - rocks in pen and ink, 6" x 4" - in progress

                Updated: October 2, 2014

                I have more ideas for rock textures that are going to fit into this small piece, and not all of them are going to play nicely together. Decisions – they are very time consuming.

                Gathering III - rocks in pen and ink, 6" x 4" - in progress

                Original post: September 9, 2014

                For the third piece in the “Gathering” series I decided to start with the horses instead of smaller rocks. Apparently it is easier to complete more critical parts of the drawing first than worry about ruining the entire thing if something in the horse does not look right. Who knew! So, outlines are done, one foal is completed but may need some touch-ups when I get to its rock, the other one is not giving me problems so far.

                Gathering III - rocks in pen and ink, 6" x 4" - in progress

                You can see the first two drawings in the series here and here.

                  A sketch a day: striped sunset

                  Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

                  Yelena Shabrova ~ A sketch a day: striped sunset ~ ink and Koh-I-Noor oil chalks, 6" x 4"
                  A sketch a day: striped sunset ~ ink and Koh-I-Noor oil chalks, 6″ x 4″

                  I had a different look and feel in mind when I started this sketch, and to add to that I grabbed some odd oil chalks (not even sure what that might be, it feels like something between a wax based colored pencil and an oil pastel stick) instead of normal pastels for coloring. The result is a complete accident.

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                    Gathering II

                    Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

                    Yelena Shabrova ~ Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6"
                    Gathering II ~ pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″

                    As busy as this year’s Silicon Valley Open Studios were, I managed to snatch up some time for drawing. The result is the second piece in the “Gatherings” series that was finished yesterday a couple of hours before the last day of Open Studios in front of the Cupertino Library was over.

                    Thank you everybody who came to see my art, to ask questions, share your stories, and support what I enjoy to do so much. Those were three wonderful weekends!

                    The original drawing ($80.00) and high quality 4″ x 6″ giclee prints are available in my Pen and Ink online gallery.

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                      Gathering (a rocky one)

                      Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

                      Gathering I, by Yelena-Shabrova - pen & ink on drawing paper, 4" x 6"
                      Gathering I – pen & ink on drawing paper, 4″ x 6″

                      Commission a similar drawing

                      This one started as an exercise after I haven’t done any pointillism in more than a year. In the process of getting the feel of the pen again I began to see a composition in the bunch of rock textures and from that point treated the small drawing more seriously.

                      The horses came into the picture last to make things more interesting. I thought of lighter-colored petroglyphs etched on a dark rock surface and decided to reverse colors. That seemed to work better with the rest of my rocks.

                      There is another Gathering piece in the making already. Turned out playing with rocks in black and white is just as exiting as doing it in color.

                      The original drawing ($80.00) and high quality 4″ x 6″ giclee prints are available in my Pen and Ink online gallery

                        Spring Fever Exhibit at the Cupertino Library

                        Posted on by Yelena Shabrova

                        New Spring I and New Spring II will be part of the inaugural Art Wall Display with the theme “Spring Fever.”

                        Of the 25 FALC members with more than 50 artworks, 8 artists were chosen, and 11 pieces will be shown from March 31 till June 30, 2009.

                        Reception: Friday, April 3, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

                        Address: 10800 Torre Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014

                        More information: http://www.cupertinolibrary.org/foundation/spring_fever.html

                        New Spring I - pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75" x 4.75"     

                        Yelena Shabrova ~ New Spring II ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75" x 4.75"
                        New Spring II ~ pen and ink on drawing paper, 6.75″ x 4.75″

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