"Seven Semeons (2001)" (9 1/2 x 7 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches, 24.50 x 18.50 x 4.50 cm) "The Frog Princess (2002)" (6 1/2 x 4 x 1 1/4 inches, 17.60 x 10.60 x 3.50 cm) "Ilya Muromets and the Wife of Svyatogor (2002)" (5 x 4 x 1 1/4 inches, 13.00 x 10.20 x 3.80 cm) "Marya Morevna (2000)" (3 x 3 x 1 1/4 inches, 8.00 x 8.00 x 3.50 cm) "Golden Cockerel (2002)" (6 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches, 17.20 x 8.60 x 6.40 cm) "Christ is Risen (2000)" (2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches, 7.60 x 7.60 x 4.00 cm) "The Legend of Tsar Saur Levonidovich (2000)" (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches, 16.60 x 12.60 x 8.80 cm) "Eve of John the Baptist Holiday (2001)" (3 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches, 9.90 x 7.50 x 3.50 cm) "My Kholuy (2002)" (3 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches, 10.00 x 6.30 x 6.00 cm)

Zakharov, Sergey Dmitrievich of Kholuy Born: 1963 Sergey is a complex man with a big heart and an inviting personality. He considers his home the home of all his friends and acquaintances alike. If he has just met a person he is sure to bring them in and offer them a hot meal (cooked by his talented wife) and a few drinks of beer or vodka. He loves to laugh, as well, and getting him smiling and laughing fills any room with an intoxicating spirit. In art, he is a genius with a surgeon's right hand. The level of his talent and skill is developed far greater than anyone can imagine for themselves. Looking at his work proves this, as one can see every intricate line, some thinner than strands of hair, is meditated upon and executed with the ultimate delicacy. After going through the Kholuy Art School to become a full certified Kholuy artisan he went to work. It was about an 8 year period in which he developed his signature style and favorite blend in his palette. He humbly assumes his role as a master artist, but is quick to say many others in Kholuy are a step ahead of him. This might be true to some degree, but others would say there are only a few artists at the front of the pack, with Zakharov leading the way. Today he paints independently and teaches younger generations of aspiring artists at the Kholuy Art School. He teaches second and third year students the delicate course of composition. Zakharov has a passion for his art and his job is to convey that passion to his pupils. As his students develop, he develops as well with a better understanding of the art that has made his life so rewarding. He understands that this gift he has is not to be trifled with and it would be a sin under God to waste it or take it for granted. No matter what creative blockage he has, or resistance he faces from his composition he presses on. He feels that if he does not paint everyday something will be lost: a new way to enliven a color, a smoother transition between areas in a scene, or simply how to better stroke a brush across a painted surface. He is a religious man, but is adament about being only a lacquer miniaturist. This means he does not paint icons. He feels that if one paints icons they must completely give themselves to the art. But for him (like for so many other Orthodox Christians) icons are not art, but windows to heaven, and an icon painter must be chosen and not choose what they are to become. It seems that lacquer miniature painting has chosen Sergey Zakharov, and he has accepted this with open arms, knowing that an artist's life (from a creative point of view) is not easy. To come up with something new and be constantly improving is challenging. But this challenge extends not only to his work, but to what he is passing on to his students. And he understands that everything he accomplishes will not matter, unless he passes on his gift to anyone who has the passion of showing others what true beauty can be. S.D. Zakharov's works are sited in these books: I. Maria Nekrasova, 1994, RUSSIAN LACQUER MINIATURES. FEDOSKINO, PALEKH, KHOLUY, MSTERA, SOGLASIE, Moscow: 1. Spectacle case "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel" (1991, Museum of Kholuy), # 229, page 249. II. Kamorin A. A., 1995, LACQUER MINIATURE. KHOLUY. MASTERPIECES OF RUSSIAN FOLK ART, INTERBOOK, Moscow, ISBN 5-7664-1057-3: 1. Casket "Maria Morevna" (1993, Kholuy Creative Workshops), page 134, # 146.

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