Needham Community Education

Irina Tolmach grew up in Russia with an artist-grandmother, in a culture of respect and reverence to the arts. About 12 years ago, she started to paint, drawing inspiration from her favorite artists: Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, and Jackson Pollock. Irina's canvases bear all subjects, from the largest seascapes or landscapes to the smallest flower or branch. All living things, no matter their magnitude, are beautiful, worthy, and part of life’s gallery. As the viewer is caused to equally consider subjects of varying status, as, like all viewers, their mind recounts personal impressions, encounters, and theories. Their thoughts move as one with the paint strokes until their understanding of the importance of visibility of all subjects, no matter size, transfers to their consideration of their thoughts and their lives.