Born in Siberia, Olessia Maximenko grew up in a small village in communist Russia called Komsomolsk-on-Amure. Her parents worked at the same factory all their lives, building military airplanes. As a child, Olessia loved to draw with colored pencils. At ten-years-old, she started formal training at an art school near her home. After five years of art instruction, she graduated from art school with honors. At age 15, Olessia set off on her worldly travels and adventures.Her unusual origin story has given Olessia a delightfully candid personality and colorful perspective on life and art. Her passions, translated onto canvas give her paintings a unique appeal. Art enthusiasts and collectors fall in love with her use of bold hues, which stem from her childhood memories of painting en plein air during the brief Russian summers which made the green hues of trees and grasses all the more precious due to their fleeting lifespan.In late 2019, the Art in Embassies program selected one of Olessia's painting to display at the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. When Olessia moved to the Lowcountry of Charleston in 2020, her lifelong dream of becoming a professional artist finally came true. Asked what most excites her artistic sensibilities, Olessia Maximenko explains, “I am inspired by gorgeous Charleston sunsets and moonlight, its magical giant oak trees hanging with flowing Spanish moss, the magnificent palm trees, and horse carriages clomping past old historic buildings and southern churches in my beloved, historic downtown Charleston!”