Submitted

Rail Walk Studios & Gallery invites everyone to an exhibition of the original artwork of Tatyana Shurtz.

Visitors may view the works during Rail Walk’s public hours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursdays – Saturdays, April 30 – May 30 or by appointments any day. The opening reception is Saturday, May 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. Please, come to meet the artist and enjoy art, wine and refreshments. Rail Walk Studios & Gallery is located at 409-413 N. Lee St. in the historic Railwalk Arts District. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Ms. Shurtz has recently joined the growing list of artists at Rail Walk. Since setting up her easel and setting out her paints and brushes this past February, she has been working vigorously on creating a new collection of fantastical works of art.

Tatyana is a self-taught artist originally hailing from Saint Petersburg, Russia and immigrated to America in 1998. Having grown up in Russia’s cultural and artistic capital, she couldn’t help but absorb all the wondrous artistic styles of the world famous painters whose thousands of masterpieces line the walls of the numerous museums of the city.

However, her real aspiration for becoming an artist came to Tatyana after moving to the Salisbury area over a decade ago. Her husband, Vern, presented her with paints, brushes, and canvases for Christmas, giving her not only an wonderful gift, but also a challenging hobby that over time grew into her profession.

Knowing absolutely nothing about painting with oils, Tatyana spent much of her time learning the skills needed to express her thoughts and dreams on canvas.

Now, after passionately painting with oils for these past 10 years Tatyana spends her days in her studio at the Rail Walk Studios & Gallery in Salisbury.

Tatyana is fully involved with the process of creating her art. She builds her own frames, stretches canvas and linen by hand, works with numerous types of gesso and experiments with different types of painting techniques. Recently Tatyana took a deep interest in surrealistic, political, and fantastical themes for her creative outlet.

Often the ideas for the paintings come from her dreams. She keeps a notepad and a pencil by her bed in case she urgently needs to sketch an interesting concept for a new painting. Her surrealistic paintings are deeply personal, they reveal states of her soul in an allegorical manner. As a very introverted person, Tatyana finds it helpful to take what is troubling her and lay it out on canvas. This method has a strong therapeutic effect as well and drives the inspiration for many of her interesting and eye catching works of art.

In her political paintings she expresses her uncompromising revulsion for the despotism and terror now prevalent in the country of her birth and her love for the democracy and freedoms she now has as a citizen of the United States.

Founded in 2006, Rail Walk Studios & Gallery is home to studios for nine local artists and a large double gallery. The public is invited to visit with working artists, view original art and purchase selections for their homes or offices.

Several of the artists also teach lessons and occasionally host workshops. Parking is free and plentiful. For more information, visit ww.railwalkgallery.com or call Tatyana at 704-798-7311.