We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lark Pilinsky a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lark, appreciate you joining us today. One of our favorite things to hear about is stories around the nicest thing someone has done for someone else – what’s the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

When I had just started my career as an artist, I met my beloved spiritual master Cealo. When I scheduled my first personal session with him, the event organizer told me that I could ask Cealo’s help in any area of my life. I decided to bring my first collages to the meeting and also my poetry, in Russian, so Cealo could bless them.

The next thing I knew I had two miracles on my hands. A few of my collages were accepted into a prestigious New York gallery show in Soho where the competition was 500 artists for each spot. It was my first art exhibition!!! At the same time my first book of poetry, in Russian, was published in Moscow.

This act of kindness by my teacher let me feel confident about myself as a creator and to believe in miracles that could be possible in my life in the future.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My art name is Lark, like the bird that lingers between earth and sky, like we artists do at moments of inspiration and meditation. That’s how I create my art. I meditate and start with the spontaneous movements of my instruments, usually just pieces of cardboard. I paint on any surface, including canvas, board, plexiglass, glass and wood. I love to experiment to see what happens. My best creations take place in a state of no mind.

I begin the way abstract expressionists do and also use some sumi-e and impressionistic techniques. Eventually out of formless mists on most of my creations start appearing landscapes of ocean, sky, trees, flowers and mountain views . Nature is my source of inspiration; I channel its moods, the feeling of being one with nature, and swimming in its atmospheric light –  not mere landscape details.

Being an artist allows me to express the fountains of my creative energy and light that drives me to continue working. I want to share it with people, to radiate this light with my art, poetry and meditations. Viewers feel joy, peace and harmony when they look, enter and settle inside my art because it heals their emotional wounds.

When you look at my paintings, you may also feel playful energy that they emanate and start falling back in your fairy-tale childhood world, when your soul open to transformations and miracles. I feel like Alice in her enchanted wonderland playing with my viewers the Seek and Find game.

I also love to teach people of different ages Intuitive art classes. I always start with meditation to bring my students to nonjudgmental childhood like atmosphere. I have students from 4 years to 93 years old. Some of them stay with me for 30 years! Many already exhibit and sell their art. LarkGallery.com, that I founded and lead for 20 years, allows me to help my students to pursue their art career.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Before becoming a full time artist, I worked as a graphic designer and English-Russian translator in a big herbal supplement company. I dreamed about being an artist but needed to make money to pay rent. So I traveled an hour to my job and one hour back. I could start creating my art only late at night – sometimes I would get so absorbed in this sacred process, that only at 3 am would I go to sleep. Next morning, a cold shower at 7 am and the one-hour drive to work.

I managed to lead my life like that for nine years until our Eastern Europe department was dissolved and all its employees laid off. While all my colleagues were crying I was the only one happy to start a new life – have more time to spend with my art.

It wasn’t easy in the beginning to deal with the lack of a stable income, especially with my husband being a freelance writer. But step by step, taking part time jobs and creating a group of collectors, followers and art students, I managed to reach a level of artistry and recognition in the art world that I am proud of.

My collages and paintings have been featured in the many prestigious exhibitions, art catalogs and sold globally in France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia, Armenia, Canada, Sweden and many other countries. In 2021 – 2023 my artworks were exhibited in the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the Shiba City Museum of Art where I got two Gold Awards in the group shows.

Articles about my creations and achievements were published in the Huffington Post, Immigrant, Painting World, Voyage and Art & Beyond Magazines. My latest endeavor is my NFT collection of art on Opensea market: https://opensea.io/collection/by-lark

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Creative people are not often so good in business matters. They have difficulties filling out grant applications, with all the required documents, information and images.

I think it would be beneficial to have people in the granting programs who actually seek out for the artists for the grants they create and then help those people to apply – or at least have counsellors and coaches available to lead through the grant preparation process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://larkgallery.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lark_pilinsky_art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lark.pilinsky/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lark-larisa-pilinsky-2728254/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lark+Pilinsky
• Other: https://opensea.io/collection/by-lark
  One more website with my old artworks, poetry and meditations: https://www.larkpilinskyart.com/gallery https://www.artavita.com/artists/27923-lark-pilinsky
  https://www.facebook.com/lark.pilinsky.art/

Image Credits
First three images by Jacqui Wong