So she chose to paint watercolors, as well as occasional church interiors to earn money.

“Watercolors give me a lot of opportunity for self-expression,” she said over tea with her parents around the family dining table.

Her father fidgeted as she spoke. Her parents and grandparents have abandoned hope that watercolors would prove a passing fancy.

“The main thing is not that the dynasty continues after me, but that the person be creative,” her father said.

Although residents lament that the art of the miniature is fading, they firmly believe that Palekh’s creativity will endure.

Before the Soviet Union collapsed, the K.G.B. maintained an office in Palekh because so many foreigners were visiting, Nikolai Kukuliev said. One of the last commanding officers arrived with zero artistic interests, but took up photography, wood carving and ultimately painting.

Now retired, he recently held a painting exhibition. “The creative atmosphere here influences everyone,” Mr. Kukuliev said. “This guy was an officer, but he bloomed like a tree.”