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Find Polina on – Instagram: @polinajacobi TikTok: @poilna.jacobi Website: polinajacobi.com

Get a 15% discount on her prints if you join the waitlist here!

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1. What kind of art do you specialise in?

I’d say my art style falls best under contemporary Impressionism. I work with light, color and emotion.

2. Where are you based?

I currently live in the United States, although I’m not from here.

3. Do you feel like where you live has had any impact on your art?

I don’t know why and how moving to the U.S. has affected me and my creative work, but it sure did, since it’s exactly after moving that I have found my artistic voice and signature style.

4. What inspires you?

I’m most inspired by nature and fellow artists.

5. Do you think individuality is important when creating art?

I believe any art created by a human is individual itself. However finding that recognizable, unique style or elements in one’s work is crucial for growing a professional career.

6. How do you deal with criticism in art?

To be frank I rarely receive criticism from the outer world (at least for now). However it is the closest people that are my biggest critics. My family and friends adore and support my work like no one else, but I can always count on objective criticism and fresh perspective from them.

7. What is your process of creation? [How do your ideas travel to your final piece?

I love to map my ideas out by sketching, usually with oil pastels, or even digitally, I try to always carry a little sketchbook or iPad with me, and if I don’t have either I sketch the main idea and colors on Instagram story. I just HAVE to catch the inspiration otherwise it will slip away. Sketching gives me an understanding of color cohesiveness, composition and details. I then start to work with oils on canvas.

8. What is your favourite part of creating?

I’d say it’s a realization that I wasn’t in over my head. Some ideas might seem a little difficult to capture the way I see them in my mind, so it’s almost rewarding to be able to transfer it on canvas.

9. Do you have any favourite artists?

I’m a big fan of father impressionists, Monet, Renoir, Cezane. Among my Russian artistic predecessors are Konstantin Korovin,Valentin Serov, and Isaac Levitan. I also have a couple of modern artists I love, Anastasia Gladkova (also known as NASKA) who also lives in the U.S., Alexandra Mato, Cait known as @unhingedpeach on social media, and to be frank, many others, but these are the people from the top of my mind.

10. Do you have any favourite artworks?

11. How do you stay consistent when making art?

That’s easy enough — I simply can’t remember the last time I haven’t painted or drawn for more than 3 days. I can’t be without art, it’s my whole being. If I don’t make it — I think it, view it,consume it.

12. Do you ever feel discontent with your artwork, if so how do you deal with it?

I am very self critical. Almost every single one of my pieces have gone through a pretty harsh judgment. What helps are actually viewers, people who see and purchase my work. Their kind and strong words of admiration make me view my own work differently.

13. What are difficulties in selling artwork, how do you deal with them?

I’d say the first steps towards selling your art. It’s confusing to understand where to start, what to do. It happened very rapidly to me. One day I’m unknown and haven’t sold a single work of mine — the next I’m fully sold out and booked for commissions for months ahead. After that first sale — it all comes naturally, growing like a snowball.

14. Did you study art in school, if so did you find it beneficial? If you didn’t, how were you able to navigate learning without a formal education in art?

It’s one of my biggest regrets to have not studied in art school. However, I am incredibly proud to have studied directly under Anatoly Vasilyevich Goncharenko, an Honored Artist of Russia. He is a remarkable figure in the Russian art world, a master whose work has been recognized at the highest levels, including through state commissions. Receiving my foundational knowledge from someone so talented, generous, and extraordinary has been one of the greatest privileges of my artistic journey. His art studio at the time was two floors above my family’s apartment. My mom and him met in the elevator, and I started learning directly from the master himself.

15. Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) sold for a historic $236.4 million at Sotheby’s in New York in November 2025. Do you think a painting should be attached to material wealth?

I would say yes, more than no. However, I don’t believe that the value of a painting should be measured only in monetary terms. Art is deeply personal, and the value of a piece can be completely different for every individual. For some people, even the works of Monet might not resonate with them — they may see them as something simple or even meaningless. At the same time, artists like Jackson Pollock or Henri Matisse are absolutely breathtaking to people like me. They are some of my greatest artistic inspirations, and I can genuinely become emotional or even tear up when I stand in front of their paintings in a gallery. Ultimately, everything comes down to human perception and personal connection. However, as an artist continues to grow professionally, develop their skills, and build their reputation, I do believe that the material value of their work naturally should grow as well. The price of a painting is not the only measure of its worth, but it can reflect the artist’s journey, experience, and recognition over time.

16. Is Ego necessary in Art?

Before I persuaded art professionally, I’d say no. But meeting more artists, learning more about the industry, I’m saying you can’t grow unless you have a bit of an ego to yourself. Being critical towards your own work is normal, but to not love it or not being proud and confident about it — I’d say a very bad strategy.

17. Do you think everyone should consume art? If yes, what are the benefits?

I believe that art is exactly what makes humans humane. It has so many levels and benefits to it, that it’s hard to express. It heals, frees, creates. To me, people that don’t consume art in any of its forms, are lost souls.

18. Does everyone have an innate ability to understand art whether abstract or classical? If yes, how can someone refine this quality to engage with art on a deeper level? If not, do you think that an ability to understand art is acquired?

For me, as someone who has loved art from a very young age, it was always difficult to imagine that some people might not be able to connect with or understand it. I grew up visiting galleries and museums with my grandparents often, and I continue to do so to this day. However, with age and experience, I began to realize that not everyone naturally knows how to engage with art or see it in their own way. It is not about understanding art exactly like an art historian would, but rather about being able to develop a personal connection with it and find meaning in what you see. I truly believe that the ability to appreciate and understand art can be learned, but only when there is genuine curiosity and a desire to explore it. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to perceive art, even on a basic emotional or intuitive level — but I believe that openness and willingness to learn can completely change that.

19. How do you feel about the art that you create?

Ever since I discovered my artistic voice, realized what I want to say with my art — I started to feel very fondly and proudly of it. I recently had gotten a lot of attention towards my work online, and people comments had proven to me that I am on the right track. They compare my art to distant memories, nostalgia, dreams, something that felt forgotten but appeared yet again. It confirmed that my expression says exactly what I want it to.

20. What is something you wish consumers of art would understand?

My recent sales and communication with buyers showed me that many actually do understand that art pieces of every artist are exactly the reflection of their soul. It’s like reading a biography of someone’s life, by simply looking at what they create. But I guess I’d love for consumers to realize just how much emotional and physical work actually takes to create one, even the smallest piece. It’s a whole lifespan of thoughts and feelings in every creation.

21. What is the greatest advice you’ve ever heard in relation to your art?

Never keep your art to yourself, no matter what you think of it. A perfect example is one of my pieces that I thought wasn’t worthy at all, but got sold first and almost was fought over by many people. Create, showcase, keep going and learning.

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