Rustam Khalfin communicated and was close friends with many Sterligov artists from St. Petersburg: Gennady Zubkov, Alexey Gostintsev, Alexander Nosov, as well as with Elena Gritsenko.
Elena Anatolyevna Gritsenko was born in 1947 in Krasnoyarsk. In 1967, she graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Art College named after Surikov, and in 1973 from the Department of Easel Graphics (studio of A.F. Pakhomov) in Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture named after I.E. Repin. In 1972, she met Sterligov and joined his group of artists, which determined her individual, bright style. Then, she participated in exhibitions in the studio of V.V. Sterligov and T.I. Glebova. From 1973-1981, she went on assignment to the city of Tikhvin, where she took part in the creation of an art school and taught there. In 1981, she returned to Leningrad and worked as a book graphic artist.
Elena Gritsenko is a member of the Union of Artists of Russia (1988) and the International Federation of Artists (IFA, 1991). She lives and works in St. Petersburg.

Amazing worlds of unearthly beauty and harmony bloom on Elena Gritsenko's canvases. Female portraits turn into bouquets of flowers, and the court ladies of ancient Japan resemble an exquisite shady garden. The fireworks of shades of green – Elena Gritsenko's favorite color – amaze with variety and vital power. The mesmerizing movement of shapes and lines, which are smooth or rounded, sharp or swift, is united by a magical haze of green radiance. It seems that a talented brush keeps the memory of the Garden of Eden, which shines through in every picturesque image, and in every creation of the artist.