Featured Artist of the Month : Mirian Maisashvili Oct. 2026 | TheArtList - Art & Photo Calls for Visual Artists and Photographers.

Mirian Maisashvili

Tbilisi, Georgia

Mirian Maisashvili is a Georgian artist based in Tbilisi. Born in 1976 into a family of artists, he is the grandson of Severian Maisashvili, a People’s Artist of Georgia, and the son of painter David Maisashvili. He works in painting and graphic art, exploring colour, light, space and emotion. His subjects range from seascapes and city views to still lifes and expressive compositions. He has also created commissioned works and art for interiors, and has experience restoring historic interiors and artworks.

How and when did you start creating art?

I grew up surrounded by art. My grandfather and father were both painters, and my mother taught painting at Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in Georgia. Art was part of everyday life in our home. I spent countless hours in my father’s studio, watching him bring his ideas to life, and began drawing and painting at an early age. My mother helped me understand the principles behind what I was doing, explaining techniques and sharing her experience as I painted. In this way, my home became my first art school, where theory and practice came together naturally.

I also spent some time studying at Tbilisi Academy of Fine Arts, but the deepest foundations of my artistic education were laid at home. From there, I continued to learn through observation, practice and experimentation. After 2005, I began to devote myself more seriously to painting, gradually finding my own artistic voice.

What media and genres do you work in?

I work with oil, acrylic, watercolour, pencil, pastel, graphite and mixed media. My work includes seascapes, landscapes, city views, still lifes, figures and more symbolic compositions. I enjoy choosing the medium that best suits the mood of a particular work.

Who or what are your influences?

My family’s artistic tradition remains a strong influence, especially in the way I look at the world and approach my work. Beyond that, I find inspiration in the sea, the shifting light of a city, and the quiet presence of everyday objects. Familiar places can take on a different mood as the light changes, or awaken a memory or feeling. Those moments often become the starting point for my painting.

What was your inspiration for
Accelerated Times
?

I wanted to capture how fast life feels today. People are constantly moving, busy with their daily routines, sometimes barely noticing what is around them. The crowd in the painting conveys that rush. The street musician, however, seems to me the freest person in the scene. He can choose where to go, what to notice, and when to stop and play. Through him, I wanted to suggest that even in a hurried world, we can pause, experience life on our own terms, and remain free.

Describe your creative process?

My creative process begins with thinking and reflection, often while listening to classical music or jazz. I may spend several days imagining a painting’s composition and colours. Sometimes I also need to experience my subject in person. Before painting a railway scene, for example, I spent hours at the station watching trains arrive and leave. I touched the rails and tried to feel their texture and presence. By the time I begin painting, I can usually see the finished work clearly in my mind. The painting itself may take only a few hours, but it carries those days of thought and observation.

What are you working on currently?

I’m developing a new composition centred on light. At the moment, I’m in the reflective stage of my process, thinking about its colours and forms and letting the image take shape in my mind before I begin painting.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

In the near term, I want to explore light in my work and turn some of the ideas I’ve been imagining into paintings. I also want to keep experimenting and see where new ideas lead me. In the longer term, I hope to develop a body of work that feels distinctly my own and share it with more people, both in Georgia and internationally.