The story of how Russian artist Anya Pavlichkova came to live in Yorkshire is both romantic and poignant.

She met her husband-to-be Mark Greenop, whose name she has already taken, while visiting the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with her mother in October last year. Art, quite literally, brought them together.

“I have always loved the sculpture park,” she says, “I used to go to it at least five times a year. I got to know the landscape very well.”

At the time of her chance meeting with Mark, a business consultant and founder of the CragRats theatre company, she was living in Durham where her mother, an academic, works at the university.

“He was climbing trees and almost fell into my mother’s arms,” explained Anya. She later discovered that he is a keen rock climber.

Anya, a portrait artist and landscape painter, didn’t know if she’d see Mark again but he emailed to ask if she’d take on a commission to paint a portrait of his late wife Sarah as a gift for her father.

It was, says Anya, the most difficult commission she has ever taken on.

But the project meant that they had to meet regularly and they soon realised they wanted to be together.

They plan to marry next May in Durham Cathedral.

In the meantime, Anya is now living in Flockton Moor where the couple have built a gallery to display and sell her work. It is also where she hosts workshops. The gallery on Paul Lane has its official opening tonight.

On show is a collection of her signature sculptural landscapes, created from a mix of fabric, leather and canvas with oil. She is also exhibiting softer landscapes in pearlised paint; portraits and studies in oil. Sarah’s portrait, borrowed for the opening exhibition, takes pride of place in the gallery.

Sculptural landscape by Anya Greenop
Sculptural landscape by Anya Greenop

Originally from Kostorma in central Russia, Anya came to live in the North East of England at the age of 16. She is now 28.

After studying interior architecture and design at the University of Northumbria, she did an MA and a course in animation.

She says she knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist and attended a specialist arts school in Russia from the age of five. By the time she arrived in England she was already a seasoned exhibitor.

As well as painting she is a photographer, jeweller and furniture designer and plans to use her new gallery to demonstrate her versatility. Her work is often bold and colourful, striking in its composition, but she is also capable of a much lighter touch.

She has been inspired by many of Britain’s beauty spots - from Scottish glens to the Lake District and Pennines. But she is also a keen traveller and often looks further afield for subject matter. In November she and Mark are off to Antarctica where she will be drawing and painting.

l To see more check out www.anyagreenop.com