"My Mountain Dream"*

Alyona (Kovtun) Balser

24 x 48

acrylic on canvas

frame customized for buyer by WonderWall framing

Gallery commission donated to charity

"In eastern Ukraine where I grew up there aren't any mountains, just a few rolling hills. As a little girl I remember seeing pictures of and hearing people talk about visiting the Carpathian mountains. They looked big and magical, like a fairytale. It was my dream to see them someday, but my family did not have the means to travel all the way across the country to see them. When I left Ukraine in 2015 and came to Utah, I cried at how huge and beautiful and close the mountains are here. While I love looking at their beauty, they always remind me of my childhood dream of seeing the mountains I first fell in love with. I painted "My Mountain Dream" as a hopeful promise that there will be a path through the flowers that leads me back to that dream."

Artist Bio:

Instagram @_twolilys_

Alyona (Kovtun) Balser is a self-taught artist from Luhansk, Ukraine. The granddaughter of a renowned and award-winning artist and sculptor, Alyona grew up among wonderful works of art that kindled her passion for painting.

In 2014, Alyona and her mother fled their hometown in eastern Ukraine after it was illegally seized by Russian military members and separatists. A year later, Alyona immigrated to the United States where she married and started a family.

Since Russia's renewed hostility towards Ukraine, Alyona has dedicated her artistic talents towards trying to raise funds to help her parents, grandmother, brother, and friends still in Ukraine.