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Artist, engineer, television producer, graphic designer and researcher, Olga paints in allegorical surrealism,
infusing her artistic vision with philosophical and moral implications.
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia under the iron fist of communism, Olga’s rich family heritage included several
generations with artistic achievement. Her parents, both graduates of architectural college, were stationed
at a remote naval base in the Arctic Circle on the White Sea near Murmansk.

Olga was raised from the age of three by her grandparents in Samara. Olga was schooled in
classical ballet and piano. She first performed on television at the age of eleven. Often she was
sent to perform at secret factories during lunch breaks and for the military in the evenings. In
school she was elected to various student organizations and even read articles she wrote on local
radio station.

MEMORIES

At the insistence of her family Olga pursued her degree in engineering and worked at the Central Institute for
Information and Patent Research in Moscow. Later Olga became a section chief at the Politechnical
Museum where she gave lectures and did historical research. During her first year in college she was
approached by someone who asked her if she was prepared to sacrifice for her country, to include complete
devotion to a career selected for her with no possibility for a family life. This was her first direct encounter
with the KGB.

The summer after graduation Olga was assigned to a Canadian delegation at the Student Olympic Games
in Russia. Here the KGB tried to push Olga into the middle of an espionage game between a Canadian spy
and KGB operational officers. She resisted and soon what seemed like a chance encounter, Olga met
Victor Sheymov, a charming and resourceful young man who helped get her out of the threatening KGB
situation. Later she learned Victor worked in one of the top secret divisions of the KGB. Their love story and
eventual escape from the Soviet Union and the clutches of the KGB is described in detail in the book,
Tower of Secrets, written by Victor and published in the USA.

Not long before their escape from Russia Olga’s mother, Ksenia, finally told her some of the family secrets. It
seems her great grandfather did not die from the flu and was really an officer in the Tsar’s secret service who
was killed in the line of duty.
It was hard to defy her motherland where she grew up, but it was harder to be loyal to a system that killed
millions of people and brutally suppressed any thoughts of a free and open society.

In time Olga and Victor made a decision to fight Communism and Olga had to learn the spy business
firsthand in order to outwit their powerful opponent, the KGB. Soon they decided that defecting to America
would give them their best opportunity to oppose the ruthless Soviet Empire.

With the fall of communism in Russia Olga saw the opportunity to tell the story of the Russian people and
their rich cultural history through television, and she created the award winning television series Russia
Today. This half-hour magazine show presents a unique and welcome opportunity to view Russians and
Americans coming together to share and compare not only differences but similarities as well, highlighting
our common humanity. RUSSIA TODAY

Olga's new program Your Source TV interviews go in-depth with new approaches to wellness and well-being,
advanced technology, current social trends and the arts. It provides the facts, information and new
perspectives from experts, inventors and leaders dedicated to making a difference in people’s life.

Having received her degree in Industrial and Graphic Design from Georgia Tech, she creates her art using
different media including oils, watercolor and airbrush. Olga’s art is very distinct, reflecting her vast talent,
combined with unique life experience. Her allegories draw upon music, literature and religion. Olga
Sheymov’s paintings are found in private and corporate collections in the United States as well as Europe.

About my art

GiClee