Each painting and drawing on this site exists once. I live and work in Porto and sell my paintings myself, so the work you give is the original, not a print.
I can send it straight to the person you are giving it to, in any EU country or Monaco, with your note inside and no price. For a few islands and outlying regions, write to me before paying (details). If the recipient is moving, I can hold the painting until they have a new address.
Gifts by budget · Christmas gift ideas · Sending it to the recipient · Made to order
Christmas delivery
To have a painting arrive before Christmas, pay by the date on the Buying and shipping page. That date leaves time for dispatch, the UPS transit and a margin for the holiday rush. It covers ready works; for a commission we agree the timing separately.
For a new home
Paintings about home suit a housewarming. Home Is Where We Are Together shows birds and a nest: a home made by the people who stay close. In Home, planet Earth lies curled in a nest of threads of light.
For a kitchen or a dining room, look at the still lifes in oil. Wildflowers is a loosely gathered bouquet in a ceramic vase. I painted Warm Light from life: a protea among flowers, in a vase I made myself at a workshop.
For someone moving to another country
The Thoughts series comes from the years when I moved from Russia to Estonia and then to Portugal. Home and Thoughts belong to it, and so does Silkworm Moth, which I painted during the move to Portugal. Give one as a farewell present, or send it after the move to the new place.
A painting is one more thing to pack. I can keep it after you pay and send it once your friend knows the new address (see below). I currently ship within the EU; for a move further away, write to me first.
For a wedding or an anniversary
For a couple, choose a work about a shared path. Encounter is about the moment two paths cross and a dialogue without words. In Treasures, magpies gather what matters into a heart-shaped nest; it is a painting about memory and love. Home Is Where We Are Together fits here as well.
Several guests can give one larger painting together. One of you pays, and I send it to the couple's address or hold it until they are back from the honeymoon.
For someone who loves moths and beetles
The insects I paint are night moths and a beetle, not butterflies. Pink Moth and Hyphantria cunea, a white moth on deep blue, are small round canvases, Ø20 cm. Beetle shines like a gemstone on saturated green (oval canvas, 20×30 cm). Silkworm Moth has a personal story: my surname, Shelkovenko, comes from “shelk”, the Russian word for silk.
All the moths in one place: Moths.
For a bird lover
Birds appear in many of my paintings. White Peacock shimmers in pearl, pink and lilac tones on deep blue. Treasures has magpies, and A Quiet Place a little owl in no hurry at all. In Thoughts, a small blue bird sits at the centre of a whirl of light and dark thoughts.
For someone who loves flowers and plants
In the series What Flowers Say I draw plants in ink and watercolour on A2 sheets. Protea stands for resilience; Cactus is guarded outside and in full flower within. A sheet travels rolled in a tube, so it is easy to send, and the recipient chooses the frame.
For a big wall, Flowers of Strength brings proteas and wildflowers together on a round canvas, Ø90 cm.
For an art lover
A person who loves art will look closely at the surface. On canvas you can see the relief of the paint and each brushstroke; on paper, the ink line and the watercolour are laid by hand. I don't sell reproductions, so the painting they unwrap is the only one there is.
For a larger piece, look at Keeper of Silence, an old tree as a place of quiet and refuge (oil, 60×80 cm), or browse all paintings.
For a birthday
Start from what the person loves; the sections above go by subject. For a modest present, look at the small canvases Pink Moth, Hyphantria cunea and Beetle. For a milestone birthday, friends can club together for one of the special gifts.
Leave enough time: I dispatch a ready work within 5 working days of payment, and UPS usually takes 2–5 working days within the EU. Buy at least two weeks before the date.
For her
Go by what she already loves. For someone who loves flowers, there are the ink and watercolour sheets Protea and Cactus, or the oil still lifes Warm Light and Wildflowers. If she likes bright colour on a dark background, look at Pink Moth, with red and yellow wings on deep blue, or White Peacock in pearl, pink and lilac tones.
For a mother, a sister or a friend, Home Is Where We Are Together is about a home made by the people who stay close and care for one another.
For him
Here too, the subject matters more than any rule. For someone who values quiet and nature, Keeper of Silence shows an old tree as a place of refuge, and A Quiet Place a little owl that simply watches the world. For someone who likes to look at nature up close, Beetle resembles a living gemstone. Encounter, about the moment two paths cross, is a fitting gift from someone close.
Christmas gift ideas
For Christmas, a small original is easy to send and easy to place: Pink Moth and Hyphantria cunea are round canvases of Ø20 cm, and Beetle an oval of 20×30 cm. The ink and watercolour sheets Protea and Cactus travel rolled in a tube.
Up to €300 there are also A Quiet Place, Home Is Where We Are Together, Wildflowers and Warm Light; all prices are in Gifts by budget. For the gift to arrive in time, pay by the date on the Buying and shipping page, then email me the words for your note.
A painting made to order
I take commissions in oil, acrylic and watercolour, in my own style, including portraits of people and pets from your photos. Before I start, we agree by email on the size, technique, reference photo, timing and price. Write to me with your idea at [email protected].
A commissioned work is made to your specifications, so the 14-day right of withdrawal does not apply to it; the legal guarantee does (details).
Gifts by budget
Prices are for the work. Shipping to the recipient's country is added on top and shown before you pay.
Up to €150
Up to €300
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250 €A special gift: €500 and over
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1600 €If a work has sold, its page says so. Everything else is in Paintings.
Is a painting a good gift?
It is, when you choose with the person in mind: the subjects they love and the wall where the work could hang. If you don't know their home well, a small format is the safer choice: a round Ø20 cm canvas or the 20×30 cm oval Beetle is easy to place. An A2 sheet (42×59.4 cm) is larger, but it travels rolled in a tube and comes unframed, so the recipient can choose a frame to suit the room. Keep the large canvases for people whose rooms you know.
And if the painting doesn't suit them, online purchases still come with 14 days to change your mind, counted from the day the recipient receives it (details below).
Sending the gift straight to the recipient
On the painting's page, choose the recipient's country, not your own: the checkout is tied to the country you pick and accepts an address only there. Before paying you see the total, painting plus shipping. At Stripe's checkout, enter the recipient's name and address as the delivery address and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. I use the phone number from the checkout only for questions about the delivery.
I ship to the 27 EU countries and Monaco; Madeira has its own line in the country list. For the Azores, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, the French outermost regions and the Åland Islands, write to me before paying. For other countries, write to [email protected].
A note from you, no price inside
After paying, email me the words for your note and the title of the painting. I put the note in the parcel, and there is no price inside.
Sending later, to a new address
If the recipient is moving or away, I keep the painting after you pay and send it once they have a new address. Unless we agree otherwise, the law gives me 30 days from the purchase to deliver; if you need me to wait longer, we fix the date by email.
UPS delivery, tracking and packing
I dispatch a ready work within 5 working days of payment, and UPS usually takes 2–5 working days within the EU. You always receive a tracking number by email and can pass it on to the recipient.
Works on A2 paper travel rolled in a tube. Canvases stay on their stretchers, so I wrap them in film and pack them in a cardboard box. The risk in transit is mine until delivery: if the painting arrives damaged, photograph the packaging and the work and write to me. I refund you in full, shipping included, or, if you prefer, restore the work or reduce the price.
If the gift doesn't suit
Online purchases: 14 days from delivery to change your mind. For a gift, the 14 days start on the day the recipient receives the painting. Write to me, have the work sent back well packed, and I refund your payment, including the original shipping, by the same payment method. The cost of sending it back is yours. Full conditions: Right of withdrawal.
Every work also comes with the 3-year legal guarantee of conformity (terms of sale).
Seeing it in Porto first
If you are in Porto, you can see a painting before you give it and collect it yourself at Rua Alcaide de Faria, 193, by appointment only. You can pay in cash on collection (by law, only for amounts under €3,000); to pay online and collect, write to me before paying, because the checkout always adds shipping. To arrange a visit, write to [email protected]. More on the Buying and shipping page.
Questions about a gift: [email protected]. Seller: Olesia Shelkovenko, Porto. Legal notice · Terms of sale.