Sergey Cherep

Sergey Cherep

Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on January 24, 1969, Sergey started studying art as a young child. At the age of 8, he was enrolled in a school for artists and then went on to attend college at the prestigious Serovo Art Institute.  There he gained extensive knowledge in all the classic art forms including European Art History, photography, printing processes, sculpture, restoration methods and painting from still-life to portraits.

Filled with wanderlust and dreams of what he could accomplish, in early 1991 Sergey made the decision to try and come to America to find the artistic freedom he desperately desired. Leaving his family and everything he knew behind. He had a Russian friend that was connected to a professor at Emory University who invited Sergey to stay with him. Not able to speak a word of English, Sergey got a job cleaning bathrooms and collecting trash at the IRS building, making $150.00 a week, and painted in his spare time. He learned to speak English by listening to the people who worked at the IRS talk and by taking his Russian / English dictionary into the bathroom and trying to read the newspaper.

One day, Sergey showed some of his work to his manager, who became excited by what he saw. The manager helped set up an art show for Sergey in the cafeteria of the IRS building. The young artist sold three paintings at that show and was paid in cash. Afterwards, he found a small frame shop in Atlanta and the owner offered to let Sergey display his art there and do some shows. He sold one painting for $1000.00 in contrast to the $600.00 he made a month for working daily at his cleaning job.

In 1994, Sergey attended the World Cup Soccer game in California and visited Napa Valley while he was there. He was enchanted by the grapes, the beautiful landscape and the overall ambiance.  That changed his art from the traditional European style depicting stark realism that was so prevalent in Russia to painting a bright, vivid palette of land and sea in primary colors.

“The technique of painting that I have embraced is definitely the Post Impressionism style made famous by Van Gogh,” says Sergey. “I love the simplicity of colors and energy found in his work. The bold, unrealistic colors and expressive brushstrokes of my predecessors are my tool as i try to bring a three-dimensional feeling out from the paintings by using color, perspective and a thick texture.  My paintings are like fairy tales– a dream place. I don’t see things as realistic. I allow the fantastic to happen. When I travel and paint, the sun, the grapes and the smells of California speak to me.  But anything can motivate me, a picture, a cut water melon or even a color.”

The turning point for Sergey came when he met his wife, Renee, at a Christmas party in December 1995.  With his talent and her head for business, the couple immediately set out to get Sergey and his art recognized.  They took a booth at an art trade show in New York, where Sergey made $20,000 selling his art. After that, Sergey was able to get his paintings into several acclaimed Galleries. Today, they make a great couple, supporting one another and their family, while blessing thousands of individuals across the world with Sergey’s amazing talent.

Sergey has accomplished a signature style, which allows his work to be recognized immediately.