A Unique Artist

WHO PAINTS WHILE SCUBA DIVING

FEATURE OLGA BELKA & ALLY LANDES

Olga Belka is a unique underwater artist with a very unusual studio.She is the only underwater portraitist in the world who paints while scuba diving. She developed this special technique of painting in salt water to allow herself to paint directly from nature, to detail the smallest elements of the underwater world.

Olga immediately fell in love with the underwater world when she experienced her first dive. So much so, she took it to the next level by becoming a professional diving instructor to pursue her painting career’s new path by joining her two passions.

Olga’s entire process is eco-friendly.The paint does not dissolve in the water, and she does not disturb any of the marine life while she works. She creates her paintings from start to finish directly from the realms of nature, positioned on the seabed. Each painting requires between two to six dives, and each dive lasts up to three hours. Olga has not only managed to achieve the desired visual effect she has worked so hard to get, but she has also mastered the quality of her paintings for long life durability.

As well as painting sea creatures, Olga also stages scenes and creates compositions to produce stories of treasure, fantasy and fairy tales. To do this, she adds additional props underwater which she is sure to be safe towards the surrounding marine life.

With having gained experience in painting underwater landscapes,Olga set about creating her art in a completely new direction, with underwater portraits. Humans obey the laws of physics completely differently underwater. They adapt to the water columns, surrounded by new unfamiliar energies and completely different harmonies to have their portraits painted. Being under the authority of the same energies, Olga captures them on canvas in an almost spiritual and very zen experience.

As a diving instructor, Olga is able to give modelling advice on how to pose underwater. Depending on the divers experience, they are put at ease to dive within their comfort zones, whether it be more comfortable for them in a swimming pool, or at shallow depths of open water, but Olga never paints from a photograph. She uses real subjects at all times in order to get the feel, the emotions and the true colours for her work to come alive on her canvas.

The sea is a boundless resource of inspiration and energy for her and Olga wants to share her vision of the underwater kingdom with the world. In addition, she wants to draw the attention to the importance of protecting the environment which is why Olga creates her paintings underwater.

Olga visited the UAE for the first time this year to exhibit and sell her work during the World Art Dubai (WAD) expo from the 1619 March 2022. Olga’s larger paintings start from $5,900 sized at 80x60 and $1,200 for her smaller pieces sized at 30x20. Prints are available for some of the originals priced at $150 for small, $250 for medium, and $350 for large sizes. All her existing artwork is available for purchase on her website.

Olga had souvenirs available during the WAD expo, such as bags and keychains with copies of her paintings in which 100% of the proceeds went towards her coral reef cleanups, an initiative very close to Olga’s heart.

Besides being able to book a portrait painting session with Olga, she also offers underwater painting courses for those budding artists looking for new experiences.A painting course starts from $3,000, or a trial course for the day starts at $300.

Olga has been living in Southeast Asia for the past nine years, living between her two homes inThailand and Singapore. She travels a lot and is open to offers from hotels or dive centres based anywhere in the world with a hot climate who can organise her painting sessions for her.

A painting takes up to a week to complete, so a project focused in one location can last up to a month with several paintings on the go. Olga dedicates all her time to her painting process.

CONTACT OLGA BELKA

Email: olgabelka.art@gmail.com www.olgadiving.com