'A Day in the Country' Realistic Dutch Scene, Oil on Linen Framed Painting by Alyona Kostina Dixon

This warm, realistic painting depicting a day exploring the Dutch countryside features a golden field with a stream bisecting the landscape with windmills dotting the landscape. The soft blue sky with clouds evokes thoughts of a warm summer day in the Netherlands. The Russian/American artist takes an academic approach to this landscape painting with the focus on the play of light on the stream that illuminates the windmills. The scene draws the viewer in to experience the beautiful environment with the joys that summer brings.

Alyona Kostina was first introduced to art by her father while growing up in Soviet Russia. She admired his passion for art and enjoyed spending time with him drawing. Born in a small town in Western Siberia, she had not considered art as a career. She taught high school English and German before going to work in the oil and gas industry as a Field Engineer and Petrophysicist. It was her career in this industry that brought her to Oklahoma City in 2011. While maintaining her career, she began selling her work, and as of March 2019, she became a full-time professional artist. Alyona believes her best artwork is achieved when she expresses that fleeting emotional moment by capturing a glimpse of life that was here one second and gone the next. Although she primarily works in oils, Alyona creates wool art and loves watercolor for its loose technique and natural flow.