We’re thrilled to welcome Olena Babak to Maine Art Hill! Recently, we had the pleasure of sitting down with her to talk about her background, her journey as an artist, and her deep connection to her medium. It was a conversation filled with humor, insight, and passion.
 

We started at the very beginning. Truly.
 

“I have to credit… or maybe blame… my mother for me becoming an artist,” Babak said with a smile. “I was a child who barely ever slept. One day, on a walk home, my mother noticed I would stay quiet under the colorful umbrella above my head. So, she hung it over my crib—and it worked. Eventually, she discovered that I'd stay quiet even longer if the umbrella had an impressionist painting. That’s how she found a little peace for herself.”
 

Olena has always been drawn to color.
 

“I tell her it’s credit, not fault—though that depends on how well my art is going at the moment,” she joked.
 

Her path to becoming a professional artist wasn’t traditional but rich with curiosity, intuition, and a love of learning.
 

“I started in graphic design. It let me create visually without needing to rely heavily on words,” she said. “Eventually, I enrolled in studio and history courses because I wanted to keep painting and understand art more deeply.”
 

Art wasn’t just something she liked—it was always the direction.
 

"I always wanted to be an artist—or maybe a geneticist," she laughed. "My father was a scientist, and his world captivated me. But even he told me, ‘You know what you love more.’ And that was painting."
 

Her creative path included many forms: a degree in fashion design, years of work in graphic design, and a role as an art director. Still, she felt pulled toward the world of painting.
 

“It was hurricane season in Florida. We were visiting St Augustine as a hurricane approached the area. On our walk around the museum building, we saw a gallerist rushing to bring artwork inside the safe storage—antique pieces they were trying to secure. I offered to help. The next thing I knew, I was working there. A few months later, I ran the gallery,” she said.
 

That moment became a pivotal chapter—one of many where doors opened, and she was ready to walk through.

“The antique gallery was a wonderful stepping stone for me. Besides the usual gallery work, I had to do gallery appraisals, so I had to study a lot of art history and artists' biographies. That’s when I started thinking, ‘Everyone says it’s impossible to be a full-time artist—but these people did it, and they had incredible lives.’”

Eventually, Babak chose to leave the gallery to pursue her work. Her clients were incredibly supportive.

“One even created a scholarship so I could attend an art atelier in North Carolina. I had enough saved up for about six months, plus the scholarship. I gave it everything I had,” she said. “The school encouraged me to enter a competition—and I won another scholarship.”
 

Momentum kept building. One opportunity led to the next.
 

“When they realized I had a background in art history, they asked me to help prepare art lectures. That was a dream. Studying art history helped me define what I wanted to paint—and how. The artists I studied are now part of how I see and create."

So when asked what kind of painter she is? The answer wasn't straightforward.

"I must be true to myself and how I interact with the outside world, bringing this world internally and eventually on the canvas," says Babak.

She produces at least twenty to twenty-five paintings in the studio. 

"I’m talking about large-scale paintings in the studio. However, my work takes a route somewhere different when I am outside. It could be an emotion in a conversation, a sunset or sunrise, the perfect light, or a friend I just met. It could be many different things, but that’s what helps me create," she says. "I combine or distill what I see, taking it through my filter of my experiences, my sensitivity, and my ways of understanding the world, and then it comes to the canvas."

So, how do you “label” your art? Or yourself as an artist.

"It's up to the viewer. If I paint Plein Air, I am a Plein Air artist. When I paint portraits, I’m a portrait artist. I paint in my studio, so yes, I am a studio artist," she laughs. "So, I am an artist. All the other things fall under being an artist."

She prefers oil, yet loves to draw. 

"I drew a lot; it is essential and connects with me. I can do guache. I can do watercolors, but you won't see much of that. Mostly, it is oil as of late. Some charcoal or pencil drawings and some pastels as well," she says. "I don't limit myself. Sometimes, you miss something and need to tighten it up and review it with a pencil. Sometimes, you need to loosen up. You go with charcoal. Sometimes, you don't want to mix the turpentine, and you travel, and you want to have a dry medium, so I go with pastels, but the oil is something that I have genuinely gravitated to since I was a child."

Oils make her the happiest. 

"I always tell all my students that what makes you happy is important. Work is an essential part. Without work, you are not going to get anywhere. But you also need to be happy," she pauses. "Whatever makes you happy is your guiding light, where you will end up being."