Sunday 26 August 2012

Painting in Bulgaria and Greetings from Greece

Hi everyone,

I went to Bulgaria for the summer and had such a lovely time!..as always! As well as it being really fun, it was also very productive!

My granddad introduced me to a friend from his school years, they used to draw together back in the day, his friend kept up the art, my granddad didn't. He has been selling his paintings for years now and his wife also started painting a few years back. His daughter is also an artist! They were kind enough to invite me over and show me their work. We had a great conversation and I managed to get a few photos to share with you of their work!




His friend digged out some old sketches my granddad had done in their school years! I was so excited, as I've heard he's loved drawing in his younger years but never seen any of his stuff! These were drawn in 1961! Vintage :p


He then surprised me with this painting! Painted when he was 16, frame and all made by himself, falling apart slightly..



My granddad loved this painting, by the great Russian Painter, Shishkin. We had some long discussion about it and what the message was that he was trying to portray.



I was really inspired by our meeting and promised my granddad I'd give it a go! I based my landscape on one of his friends' paintings, roughly around the composition and added my own twist with the colour pallet and paint strokes. Took some photos of the process:






'Purple Forest'
Oil on canvas



I started a painting in May which was inspired by a classic Bulgarian film and my grandmother, who looked a lot like the actress when she was in her 20's! So I combined the two but unfortunately didn't have the chance to finish it! This time however I was home for longer so managed to complete it! Here is the finished piece:

Another painting I did in January of my nana! For this one I had the pleasure of painting her from life whilst having lovely chats!



Also, I went to Greece for a couple of days with family and friends and had such a lovely time! Took some photos, had a blast at the beach, hope you enjoy them!








Lastly I am very happy to announce that I have a website up now, with a collection of work and some more info about me.
Check it out! www.valenalova.com