Niko Chocheli was born in Tbilsi, Republic of Georgia, Tbilisi Nikoladze Art College and Tbilisi State Academy of Fine Arts. His work is reminiscent of the style of the old masters and Orthodox iconography. His animal paintings come alive in their portrayal. His fantasy images evoke a feeling of illuminated manuscript pictures with lush, sumptuous colors and intriguing creatures.

Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia (for more
information go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi .

Georgia’s capital Tbilisi lies in the centre of

eastern Georgia, in the foothills of the

Trialeti

mountain range.

bilisi

covers an

area of 450 km² (174 square miles)

and

has more than 1.093 million inhabitants.

According to Georgian legends it was

founded in

the 5th century by King Vakhtang

Gorgasali who

while hunting shot a

pheasant which fell into a

warm spring and

was either boiled or healed,

depending on

which version you hear. Either way,

the king

was inspired to found a city on the site,

and

the name of the city derives from the

Georgian word tbili meaning warm.

Although the

city has been destroyed and

rebuilt some 29

times, the layout of the Old

Town is largely intact

with narrow alleys

and big crooked houses built

around

courtyards.

Tbilisi is a significant industrial, social, and

cultural center and is emerging as a

major transit

route for global energy/trade

projects (see Baku-

Tbilisi-Ceyhan

Pipeline). The city is located along

one of

the historic Silk Road routes and plays an

important role as a trade/transit center due

to its

strategic location at the crossroads

between

Russia's North Caucasus, Turkey,

and the

Transcaucasian republics of

Armenia and

Azerbaijan. In recent times,

Tbilisi is known for

the peaceful Rose

Revolution which took place

around the

city's Freedom Square and nearby

locations, after falsified parliamentary

elections

of 2003 led to the resignation of

the Georgian

President Eduard

Shevardnadze.

The city’s main citadel, which dates from

the 4th

Century AD. The Narikala Fortress

sits

above the Tbilisi botanical gardens

Tbilisi is a wonderful city for wine and food

lovers.

Georgia occupies an area of about 70 000 sq km (population 5,5 million)
and is twice the size of Belgium and nearly twice as large as Switzerland.
Georgia is a mountainous country. In the North rises the greater
Caucasus system of mountain ranges and is situated at the boundary of
two climatic zones - moderate and subtropical. Georgia is rich in mineral
resources. Four hundred varieties of the grapevine cultivated in Georgia
make her a land of classical wine-making.