About Yulia and her team
Meet Yulia and her team!
Yulia is an experienced Art Educator and Artist with professional education and decades of personal learning and creating. She is also training a new generation of art instructors. See Careers below.
Yulia Balobanova
I have been teaching art since 2015 and my mission has always been to inspire people to create their own art, especially if they do not have any previous art experience. I truly believe that everyone can do art with the right guidance. And with simple materials that you probably already have in your home!
I have been painting and drawing since childhood, and completed my professional art education at a reputable Design School in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I worked in interior design for many years, and also designed custom furniture for clients. Now, my passion is teaching art to children and adults and inspiring people to be creative. Art can be relaxing, help you express yourself, and you always learn something new. I am making art accessible to people so anyone can try their hand at painting, drawing, or sewing.
I focus on creating a friendly, cozy and supportive atmosphere for my students and explain very simply how to draw or paint. Participants come away from the workshop or art class with a beautiful final picture. I’ve taught art classes to young children of 5 years old, to private groups of adults, and to seniors, who all enjoyed the experience!
I am a multimedia artist. I love learning new techniques for my own practice and for teaching my students. My favorite mediums - watercolor and watercolor pencils for now. I am also love hand sewing, crochet, embroidery and would like to practice more with textile and threads. I am inspired by nature and love to share this passion with you in the pictures we create.
Art Instructor: Brynn Kirbyson
Art has always been a huge part of my life from how I preserve the world to the pathways I have taken to pursue art in my education and job experiences. I am a third year undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo in the Fine arts department. I major in Studio fundamentals with a teaching specialisation. I have found great success in my program and continue to learn and grow as an artist to find my personal style and inspirations. As an artist I enjoy working two dimensionally with acrylic paints, and tend to create conceptual paintings. I have a background in working and experimenting with a wide variety of other mediums that I practise with and teach.
Teaching is something I find myself very passionate about; my goal is to share what I love to do with others and assist people in exploring their imagination and creativity. I have a background of differing teaching experiences and that has built up my confidence as a teacher and this is also reflected through my art instruction. In my highschool years I quickly became a part of the co–operative education program we’re I had the chance to be a kindergarten teacher assistant. I worked alongside teaching professionals who took me under their wings to educate me about valuable teaching methods and gain experience in this field.
Yulia has graciously given me the opportunity to be an assistant teacher in her art instructing classes first and then an art instructor. It has been nothing but a positive educational experience where I have broadened my knowledge and skill levels in Fine arts instruction and teaching. I look forward to continuing working alongside her as I am incredibly grateful our paths have crossed.
Art Instructor: Katy Malkevich
I have been creating art for as long as I remember, everything from aspiring to be a fashion designer in grade 4 to now being an art teacher assistant and taking art courses at the University of Waterloo.
I am currently in my second year of post secondary education and I am majoring in Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo and striving towards becoming an art educator in the next five years. I enjoy teaching younger kids as they almost always have a much broader imagination and I find that a fun environment to be in; I myself have a younger sister whom I teach art at home and I thoroughly enjoy passing down my knowledge to her.
As an artist I enjoy working with mainly oil paint, but I have great experience with all sorts of materials such as acrylic paint, clay, glass painting, pencil sketching, oil and dry pastels, and many more. Although I tend to lean towards a realistic style, I enjoy experimenting and trying new things with art.
I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to work for Yulia as an art assistant and art instructor and learn more about the art of education.
Careers
If you are:
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high school student who wants to be a volunteer or have a co-op with us
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university/college student who studies fine art/studio art and wants to have an internship with us
Art Instructor assistant: Mira Abdullayeva
My name is Mira, and I’ve been very passionate about art since I was a little kid! I have always loved to create new things, join in on local art classes, and spend my time in art galleries . As a student in high school I wish to continue pursuing my creative side and help out
others who also love art.
After high school I hope to pursue a career that will allow me to also
think freely and create beautiful things!
At school, I also love to include myself in art clubs, and classes. I think it is important to have a time in your day where you can let imagination flow, no matter which form of art you choose to express it in! I personally love working with graphite. I find it very relaxing to draw in my sketchbook and let my creative side shine. Painting is also one of my favorite art mediums, it is amazing what you can do with colors and different types of paint.
All styles of art amaze me, and I love to appreciate them all, since everything is unique!
I am very grateful for this opportunity to work with Yulia and the rest of the team. I am excited to help out others while also learning new things and skills.
