My name is Anastasia Rinas. I was born in Finland, and I come from a Russian background family. My mother, Marina, finished Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, which I envy quite much. My earliest memories start with a paint brush in my hands.
I am 24-year-old MSc student in integrative plant sciences at University of Helsinki. As you can see, botany is far from being my only field of interest.
I was never really encouraged enough to pursue the path of an artist; I suppose I will find out later whether it was right or wrong. It’s not realistic to support a living by painting in a modern world, unfortunately. Future career concerns forced me into widening my interests, which was not hard and led me into natural sciences.
In art, I appreciate the most a realistic approach, composition and the use of colours. To me, it has always been interesting to know the background of an artist, as it later is translated onto canvas. Thus one of my favourite quotes is “Man is what he looks at”, by Joseph Brodsky.
I wouldn’t have enough space to list every globally renowned artist who has influenced my aesthetics; my artistic preferences or indeed my persona. However, I would like to mention a few favourites by name in no particular order: British painter John William Waterhouse (1849 – 1917),
Finnish painters Albert Edelfelt (1854 – 1905) and Eero Järnefelt (1863-1937),
Russian painters Ivan Aivazovsky (1817 – 1900), Viktor Vasnetsov (1848 – 1926), Ilja Repin (1844–1930), Ivan Bilibin (1876 – 1942), and Henryk Siemiradzki (1843 – 1902),
Polish painter Jan Matejko (1838 – 1893), Dutch painters Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675) and Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890),
Irish painter Walter Osborne (1859 –1903).
Paintings, to which I keep coming back, are Arnold Boecklin’s (1827 – 1901) Isle of the Dead,
Walter Osborne’s (1859 –1903) Dublin Streets: a Vendor of Book,
John Everett Millais’ (1829 – 1896) Ophelia,
Letitia Maria Hamilton’s (1878 – 1964) and Paul Henry’s Irish landscapes.
anastasiarinas00@gmail.com