Protsenko Yelena

Yelena was born on 1 May 1986 in the town of Khromtau in Kazakhstan. She has suffered from infantile palsy and spastic tetraparesis since birth. Despite pessimistic diagnoses from doctors, Yelena learnt - thanks to her parents' care and love - to keep her head still, to sit and to speak; and - at 18 - to walk, too. She has not been able to control her arms, but this has not stopped her from leading a thoroughly normal life. She carries out all actions with her feet - including painting. At the beginning she used to paint clumsy little flowers, houses and princesses. When she became a teenager, and following the death of her mother, her father asked a teacher to attend to Yelena. As a result of this involvement, Yelena started to read teach-yourself books and studied for several months at an art school in Aktobe. Yelena Protsenko paints using various materials and techniques such as watercolour pencils and paints, oils, tempera and acrylic paints. Yelena Protsenko lives with her husband in their own apartment in Titan. She takes care of the household and of the pets. She also works for good causes and runs master classes for children. She has had top placings in art competitions on several occasions.