OLGA ZBARSKAYA – THE WIZARD OF THE FLOWER KINGDOM
“I see and I love with my soul.”
(Grigory Skovoroda)
“Against the eternity of heaven, we were small, but the sky was leaning over us.”
(Lesya Ukrainka)
“All kinds of art serve the greatest of the arts – the art of living on earth.”
(Brecht)
Truth, good, and beauty are the priceless, spiritual treasures for a creative person whose soul reaches out for eternity. Achieving beauty is the majestic goal of a person who seeks harmony in the creation of the world. The wonders of earth and its flower paradise adjust the soul and its perception of the world’s beauty. Beauty cannot be explained by reason, logic, or thinking. It is grasped by divine intuition of artists, particularly, artists endowed with seeing the big in small and finding heaven on earth.
Beauty lives eternally. It flourishes in the hearts of those who appreciate and serve harmony and those who are inspired by the mysterious order of the universe. The inner beauty of an artist’s soul contains the foundation of creativity in any kind of art, to which the sacrifice of love is consciously offered. Education, upbringing, and self-determination to serve the beauty require intense internal work, loving heart, and spirit of an individual who seeks to collect the treasures of the universe. This path connects the soul to immortality, cleanses it from cruelty, and supplies wings to soar from vanity and flatness to the heights of the spirit.
It’s a true joy for a person to grow up in the beauty of nature, in the arms of flowers, on the shores of the gentle Black Sea or on the heights of Carpathian Mountains. It is of the utmost importance to have a far-sighted heart and an all-seeing eye, a “singing heart” (Ivan Ilyin) to be able to open a portal to the “heart paradise” (Taras Shevchenko) for the love of art.
Mother nature heals our misfortunes with the beauty of colorful flowers, as a reflection of paradise. Luxurious rosaries and spring flowers rejuvenate our hearts after the winter’s freezing months. Summer exuberance of flowers provides the bliss of rejuvenation. The autumn sorrow of withered leaves comforts the fruits of gardens. The winter dream of gardens nourishes the hope of Spring rebirth.
Olga Zbarskaya was born to a talented family of professors in Odessa. She grew up by the Black Sea gentle waves and she was warmed up by the southern sun of Ukraine. Olga lives in New York, and she works as a director of the Institute of Creative Thinking. She is recognized as a talented scientist, poet, and artist.
The “secret heat” of creativity (Alexander Blok) inspired Olga Zbarskaya to merge science, poetry, and art. She endowed her soul with a desire for good and beauty (calocagacy) in the eternal search for truth. Nikolai Gumilev wrote that the poet, philosopher, and musician “look into the ages but they live in minutes.” Olga Zbarskaya “looks into the ages” as a philosopher in science and art. She reflects on the eternal, the harmony of people and nature, the accomplishment of feelings, perfection of the infinity, and the grace of charity. Every touch of her brush combines reality and fantasy, realism and artistic improvisation. The colors of Olga’s paintings testify to the world that her pure soul and her picturesque florals are the time and eternity anthem. Her paintings and her art made of semiprecious stones are the sacrifice of love for people and the healing power for their souls.
Floristics is the favorite genre of many artists of all time, but only a special heart can inspire flowers to be born and live. Olga Zbarskaya is a beauty wanderer. Her heart lives in paradise gardens of unfading beauty where pink orchids, white-footed Sakura, slender gladioli, blue dandelions, and dream bouquets flourish. Where did these images come from? The Universe has blessed the artist-scientist to give us the fruits of reason and spirit in the incomprehensible beauty of the earth, crowned by paradise.
For some reason, there was no muse of art among the nine ancient muses. It’s surprising because visualizing the beauty of the incomprehensible universe is the highest goal of an artist’s philosophical thought and poetic imagery to crown the Earth, Heaven, Time, and Eternity.
I’m going through a series of paintings of the floral extravaganza of Olga Zbarskaya – a philosopher, poet, scientist, and artist. Pictures of Olga captured by a talented photographer immortalized the moment as a chronicle of a beautiful woman’s life.
The palette of Olga’s soul naturally resonates with the colorful palette of flowers and blue sky in her paintings. One painting strikes the mind with the eyes of the artist that replicate the meaning of life in luxurious flowers. I look at the photograph of Olga where her soul’s unpredictability is in sync with the blue color of philosophical wisdom of the flower branches growing into the sky. Another photograph depicted the artist’s dreamy soul adorned with a lush peony crown, where flowers have sprouted from the depths of Olga’s heart to the heights of heaven. I go through many amazing Olga’s pictures and paintings. Here is the spring! Here the blooming Sakura. Here, the artist herself blooms with love for people and life.
Peonies are one of Olga Zbarskaya’s favorite flowers, because they are characterized by lush baroque beauty. I look at the picture of pink-coral peonies smiling at us childishly, like the artist herself in the photo. Another picture with a pink-sunny branch of miracle flowers that sprouted into the sky and descended to earth to illuminate the sadness in the green eyes of the lovely artist-creator. Cherished impressions are inspired by the paintings of bouquets of flowers that look into the soul of the viewer with their pure, angelic eyes. Here is a branch of pink Sakura, which gently leans to the viewer with open arms of love.
Olga Zbarskaya’s floristics organically fit into various interiors while enriching them with the calocagacy of goodness and beauty. In such an interior, all negative passions will subside. They will be replaced with the grace of beauty, peace, and harmony of the world’s order. The Space theme is special to Olga Zbarskaya’s work. It requires noosphere thinking of both the author and the viewer.
Every soul is redeemed in the grace of truth, good, and beauty; and is glorified by faith, hope, and love. God gives to his chosen one Divine Grace: the grace of creativity, so that person may be justified before God as the anthropodicy of Nikolai Berdyaev. Olga Zbarskaya combines science and art in a daring flight of thought, poetic word, and artistic images. Through dramatic confrontation of her words and images, Olga affirms that she sees the world through her heart, and she seeks to comprehend the mystery of the universe. Her flowers are the essence of beauty of the earth, space, and herself. The earth flower is a messenger of love to the vast universe of the light-bearing Olga Zbarskaya, who herself turns into a miracle flower which she generously offers to us.
Spiritual and ethical people find happiness in creativity and services to the society, so they often sacrifice personal time and comfort. They realize that creativity requires finding a way to the temple and hearts of people in the art of living: “Beauty is not only the goal of art but is also the goal of life” (Mykola Berdyaev).
Ave Olga! Picturesque Ukraine is waiting for the guest of its Wizard of the Flower Kingdom!
Galina Sagach, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Doctor of Theology, Doctor of Philosophy (Slovak Republic), Professor, Academician of Four International Academies, Academician of the Academy of Higher Education of Ukraine, Vice-Rector of the All-Ukrainian People’s University of Ukrainian Studies named after Gregory Skovoroda, Member of the National Union of Journalists.