There are many familial ties within the art world, including those of Daud Akhriev, his wife Melissa Hefferlin and his son Timur Akhriev. The artists have studied in the Russian academic tradition and have built on those ideas to carve their own artistic visions. In January 2021, Cutter & Cutter Fine Art in St. Augustine, Florida, will present an exhibition featuring the work of all three artists, with them making an appearance at the gallery the weekend of January 22 and 23.

Daud, born in the former Soviet Union in 1959, received a master’s degree in fine art from the Repin Institute. He met Melissa, an American, while she was studying at the same school in Leningrad. She invited him to move back to Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her after the school year ended in 1991. Timur was born in Vladikavkaz, Russia, and began studying at St. Petersburg Iaganson Fine Art School at the age of 12. After graduation, in 2002, he immigrated to Chattanooga as well.Daud Akhriev, His World, oil on linen, 84 x 168"

Timur Akhriev, I was Dreaming about Alaska, oil on panel, 14 x 19 2/5"“One of the advantages of a Russian academic education is that one is given experience in a broad range of techniques, and one can respond to a subject and decide which technique would best express the potential of any specific idea,” says Daud. “At the academy one had to copy an Old Master, and summer students must paint plein air, in addition to many other technical subjects.”

This background has allowed Daud to work in oils, pastel and mixed media, and at the exhibition at Cutter & Cutter Fine Art collectors will find paintings in all mediums. For the show, Daud will concentrate on the theme of “individualism, strong people who find their way in a turbulent world.” Included is his masterwork His World, a 7-by-14-foot painting from his Weathered People series that touches on maintaining integrity in a tumultuous world. There also will be new works that feature two female figures.

“The unifying element will be their strong individual spirits, the strong sense of integrity and a joyful work ethic,” Daud explains. “Though fishermen and women in interior spaces may at first glance seem to have little in common, they are both finding a path forward in a turbulent world, while maintaining a sense of principle, artistic joy and integrity.”Daud Akhriev, Lullaby, oil on linen, 12 x 12"

Daud Akhriev, Marta, Firebird, mixed media on paper, 46½ x 34½"Depicted in His World is a Moroccan fisherman. Explaining the work further, Daud says, “The fishermen on the coast of Maine astonished me with their steadiness and unflappability. After a trip when I painted on a coast near Moroccan fishermen, I realized that the Moroccan fishermen and their work, the wind, their body language, their work ethic all embodied the same idea. In His World, I was thinking that when you are stable within yourself, your environment doesn’t change you. In this case, the seagulls represent the racket of the world, the anxiety, and the fisherman represents a person complete unto themselves; he knows who he is even in the midst of chaos.”

Another work by Daud is Lullaby, representing harmony and peace. “Imagine a day went by well, and this woman has taken care of her responsibilities; her work is done, and she is content as the day comes to a close. She has let her hair down,” he says. Also presented is Marta, Firebird, a mixed-media painting of his friend, flamenco dancer Marta Barroso Fernandez.Melissa Hefferlin, End of Summer, oil on linen, 30 x 40"

For this exhibition, Hefferlin will focus on narrative still lifes, which highlight her color harmonies that range from bold to fine-tuned and subtle, depending on the work. She also is planning “to have an accompanying series of small figurative pieces, almost portable size, of slice-of-life paintings featuring episodes from travels.”

Colorful Harvest is a 12-by-12-inch still life inspired by lemons that her friends with a lemon tree shared. “The aroma is so heady, so summery, and their form and color so intense, that the inspiration is undeniable,” she explains. “Because of their bold presence, I thought they needed a powerful background. I selected a silk scarf designed by Daud, my husband. The color blocks on the silk were a fantastic foil to the citrus fruit and their leaves.”

Another painting by Hefferlin, End of Summer, was designed from a collection of photographs taken while visiting with painters Denis Sarazhin and Victoria Kalaichi. “We went to visit Seville and Carmona in late September, and on the drive home to our vacation house along tiny country roads, there were these enormous, meaty, almost over-ripe sunflowers on the side of the road. We cut so many with a pocketknife that they were bulging out the sides of the car windows all the rest of the drive home. It was amazing,” Hefferlin explains. “Victoria and I posed them in our patio, in old blown-glass wine bottles and plastic tubs. Then we took photos of them, from which I composed this piece.”Melissa Hefferlin, Colorful Harvest, oil on linen, 12 x 12"

Timur’s exhibition will include still lifes, landscapes and figurative works that show his love of design, drawing and color relationships. His painting I was Dreaming about Alaska, is a vivid work of art that he wanted to have a feeling of transcendence. “I love how the person in this painting is in its own state of mind, like someone on a break from the world daydreaming or, in this case, evening dreaming and being taken to a different place,” he says. “I myself have been to Alaska, but have never seen the northern lights.

I guess it’s always been a dream of mine to see them in person. As an additional detail for my paintings, I love texture and I enjoy building up multiple layers in my work.”

His forest painting Apollo is a small color study that was inspired by the light of the sunset. “I wanted to know how far I could push using two very vibrant colors. The blue of the tree against the sunset was always beautiful to me, as it creates very saturated colors inside of the shadows—the purples, grays, cool reds and blues,” he says. “Seeing the light coming through the small openings of the branches makes it even more interesting of me to work on the design of this painting. There is always something spiritual to me when I’m in the forest at the end of the long painting day, seeing the last bits of the sun coming through the leaves and the trunks of the trees.” —

Cutter & Cutter Fine Art
25 Main Street • St. Augustine, FL 32084 •
(904) 810-0460 • www.cutterandcutter.com

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