When artist Nikolay Mikushkin emigrated from Kazakhstan to the United States with his wife in October 1996, they chose a location they thought would have four seasons: New York City.
“In November, we waited for the snow to start,” Mikushkin said. “But there is no seasonal snow.”
So in 2003, they moved from their New York City apartment to Central New York, where living is more affordable and, more importantly, there are four distinct seasons with plenty of snow. “What this area can offer to an artist, especially a plein air artist, is incredible,” said Olga Mikushkina, Nikolay’s wife.
Mikushkin is a plein air artist, a French phrase that translates to open air. He goes outdoors to create his paintings, battling against the ever-changing light to capture a moment in time and space. “In Conversations with Nature,” his solo exhibit at the Schweinfurth Art Center that runs through Oct. 16, 2022, comprises 21 of his plein air landscapes.
The landscapes depict familiar scenes: trees, meadows, farms and, yes, even snow. Many of the paintings are scenes from Williamstown, a rural town on the eastern edge of Oswego County that lies on the western side of the Tug Hill Plateau. Why there? Because in 2019, the couple purchased six acres of land so Mikushkin could have an uninterrupted location to paint.
“Before my immigration, I had a summer house and I would go there to paint,” he said. “And in that area of Russia, near the Ural Mountains, we have no limit of…
