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

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!





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

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.

Artist trading card exchange at CAG – fall 2014

As usual, the ATC exchange at CAG today was a lot of fun. Here are my contributions to the event:

Yelena Shabrova ~ rocks in the mist - ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5" x 3.5"
rocks in the mist – ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5″ x 3.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ last leaves - ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5" x 3.5"
last leaves – ATC ~ colored pencil, 2.5″ x 3.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ marsh after sunset - ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5" x 2.5"
marsh after sunset – ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5″ x 2.5″

Yelena Shabrova ~ sunset - ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5" x 2.5"
sunset – ATC ~ colored pencil, 3.5″ x 2.5″

I love how the fall edition of the ATC exchange happens around my Birthday. This year it’s on a day before, so I got four early Birthday gifts:

Dianne Daly ~ Persimmons in the Snow ~ watercolor
Dianne Daly ~ Persimmons in the Snow ~ watercolor

Dianne Daly ~ Persimmon ~ watercolor
Dianne Daly ~ Persimmon ~ watercolor

Gudrun Baumeister ~ Teachers Apple ~ watercolor
Gudrun Baumeister ~ Teachers Apple ~ watercolor

Karen Franzenburg ~ oil pastel
Karen Franzenburg ~ oil pastel

9th Annual HARK! Exhibit & Sale

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

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.

Gathering II

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.

Gathering (a rocky one)

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