The Volga-Akhtuba floodplain is a natural park with the international status of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This is more than 1.5 thousand square kilometers of picturesque forests, meadows, small rivers with unique flora and fauna. There are even Bronze Age burials here.
I grew up in these places, had the opportunity to walk in the woods every day after returning from school from the city. Breathe fresh air filled with the scent of flowers, listen to the singing of birds. Not far from our house on a tall old tree lived, and I think still live, huge eagles. Pheasants, hares, foxes run in the woods. In the summer evening, you can relax on the clean sandy beach, admire the sunset and the glare on the clear water.
I think that attention and love for nature were born in my soul right then. It's not for nothing that such a huge number of landscapes were painted.
At the same time, I became seriously interested in biology and ecology, the interest in which, along with painting, has not faded until now.
