2010 Review - part 2

So I said in yesterdays Blog that I'd write up about the Russia trip today.
I also realise that yesterdays was a bit glass half empty despite it being an incredible year. I think things are awfie complex, if I painted A, A sells so I paint B and C, C sells > that would make sense. But what seems to happen is I paint A, D , F & G, and then theres a demand for X, Y, Z and Q happens. however I think somehow it must all connect.

I started blogging as a motivation to keep producing art, instead here I am pontificating, so I'm going to drink my tea, make it quick & go clear out the gloomy messy studio.

Russia?
My friend Lynn Bennett Mackenzie was invited to an international Art symposium in Yelabuga, Russia, the organisers suggested she traveled with a fellow artist who fitted the bill. The bill was the theme of 'Breath of the Epic' I leapt at the chance. I have blogged at length about this, check out August / September 2010.
It opened up a whole new world of artistic possibility for us. We got tonnes of press coverage, out there we were treated like royalty. We were repeatedly told that Artists are a gift from god. Now it feels like a dream, of course it was an idealised bubble, If i moved over there to live, the fairy tale would soon blend into the same reality I have here... or would it ? to taste such a fairy tale is a strange thing, a life changing thing. I hunger for more, how to reproduce the same here? We were shown that anything is possible, that we need not be confined to our conventional roles, defined by the 'market'. But UK life very quickly puts us back in our boxes, labeled, packaged and cramped on a dusty metaphor. I like the international perspective. I like the core values that seem to exist outside UK plc. I like being free. I like painting what I want. I need to hang onto the Russian Fairy tale and hope, pray, dream for similar adventures this year.

now to reality.. have I got enough money to order a light bulb for my studio?

New Years resolutions ? yup plenty. I hope all of you have a wonderful year & can find some magic and wonder amid the toil. Keep in touch, give me your feedback, ideas, inspiration, keep creating.. and of course BUY MY WARES!

Yelabuga- last Day-bell ringing

Sunday 22nd.

Plan was that we’d meet Anna at 10am to have a lie in & pack bags. Lovely Olga also came along to say her goodbyes with all promising to set up face book accounts to keep in touch ( people can be quite dismissive of social networking sites, but without Facebook & twitter I wouldn't have got to Russia, nor now keep in touch with my new friends )


So we headed to a bus stop to head to town outskirts to visit the fire station, and hit a super market en route for journey supplies and vodka to take home ( Russian Vodka is nothing like the vile toilet cleaner we get at home ). Meena wasn’t keen on fire station trip but as it had been dicussed at great length and voted on off we headed, our group dynamic getting frayed on the last day as leaving anxiety rose. At the bus stop Anna got a call from her Boss Gulnara, that the bell ringing ceremony was about to start at Spassky catherdral, the director general would be there and it would be a good opportunity to catch this very busy lady. Gulzada  Rudenko obviously works hard for the international awards that their state preservation area has obtained, the whole town is on the up and its thanks to forward thinking people of integrity like this that the future for Yelabuga looks bright ( especially when we compare to the gloomy pessimism of the UK’s predicted economy over the next 3 years ).

So we crossed thr road and grabbed a minibus back into town 11rubs ( that’s around 19p ), the buses are just 13 seater minibuses, folks sit, stand, sit on knees, sit in the front, and pay the driver on leaving, there was generally banter on all the buses we went on, our being foreigners, having been on the news & in press, or maybe folks are just friendly despite the initial impression of being reserved. A gentleman in a suit told us about how he's fought in WW2 & how wasteful war was, a deaf lady gestured to get her photo taken.

Bell ringing ceremony Spassky cathedral. People sitting on benches, cosack style guys in uniform, hussars? Babushkas in headscarf’s. Bells, musicians, a speaker, flowers, children playing , police in their big hats, ( and heels for the ladies ) and the gorgeous cathedral.

Anna explained that standing near the bells during the ceremony is good for your health, the vibrations of the bells create harmony within the body, you could indeed feel the lower larger bells, it was a beautiful morning.  Apparently Yelabuga used to have a famous bell factory & even produced one that was 15 tonnes. Strangely enough I hadn't known about this when I painted a bell tower under water in one my my pictures. I was thinking about the tales of sunken cities.

The director general came to greet us, with hugs, kisses, handshakes and much warmth, we gave our small gift- which it turns out is something she collects, that’s the Yelabuga effect for you. I can't imagine myself enjoying a UK church ceremony of any denomination- but out here, where Islamic, Christian Orthodox, & pagan folk beliefs all sit together in harmony it was impossible not to feel the effects, it no longer seemed to matter which god, gods or philosophy one believed in or what it was named ( or not ), the sun shone on us all & the music did its work.

We had been joined for the day by Alex and Luda’s son George who was great company and understands a lot more English than we realised! There was always much laughter when Shinod was about, infectious! Dr Prudenko had heard ( everyone hears everything about our antics in this town! )  that we had met the firefighters at the Fair on Saturday and that we had an invitation to the fire station , so she had phoned and officially organised a visit for us .Meena was keen to do more shopping at the fair so we left her to it & caught another mini-bus to the outskirts of town, where the large imposing fire station is> more on this in next blog

Spassky fair part 1

Saturday 21st Spassky Fair part1

First free day, the spassky fair. Sadly the weather had by now completely turned from heat wave to Scottish temperatures and rain, everyone was freezing but it was still mild for us Scottish lassies and later the sun came out and dried everything lifting the mood. Friday had been such an overwhelming fairy tale it was almost a good balance to have the driech start to Saturday. It was another frustrating start to the day with much shilly-shallying about and members of our group wandering off, no focus, despite the best efforts of Anna to make the best plan possible, we spent 20 minutes going 10 meters back and forth “ I want the shop, I want the bank, what day is it, where are we going ? “ . group dynamics!

Eventually the bossy ones ( probably me) frog marched everyone to the fair where we were due to watch the opening ceremony. As it was relatively cold, Gulnara had bought blankets to sit on, but it was decreed that we should keep moving to start warm as we’d get cold on the seats.

The opening ceremony is still going on I think, 3 days of music, dance and song, very colourful, tickertape flying, young people in bright bright costumes, overseen by the police in capes and big hats. Ah, the police women? You wouldn’t mess with them, but they wear  non standard high heels! And carry handbags!?

Very surreal. The one photo call Shinod couldn’t get was with the Politzi as they were on duty & take it very seriously. The fair is huge, I took my chance, and after watching over Meena for a while took my leave and zipped around taking in everything as much as I could, keep not to miss anything when there was so much.

Handicrafts are alive and well in Yelabuga, they are not merely the  hobby of the elderly, resigned to history and hospital therapy rooms, derided and considered little value. At the museum there are master classes in weaving , lacemaking, knotting, macramé, wooden crafts etc. So at the fair there was a wonderful variety of of course Russian dolls, icons, enamelled folkart cups and pots, smoke fired pottery, beadwork, crochet, lace work, leather work, paintings, pewter cast jewellery, Tartarstan style hats, birch bark crafts, Russian fur hats, all quality work. Smells of glorious cookery and bakery emerged from tents all around, smoke from fires,  qnd the demonstrating blacksmith, yurts, horses and a camel gave people a ride, the performers sang on .

 On the main stage a mixture of folk music and pop songs sang by ladies in Barbie dresses. On a couple of smaller stages folk music from different regions with people in a vast array of magnificent traditional costumes. Its not so much like travelling back in time, its just that the past never got separated from the present like it has in the UK. It feels like we only have vague memories of the cultural heritage, of folk ways, shadows in the stones. Here it is a continuous thread very much alive and vibrant.

to be continued;

Artwork for Exhibition at Inverness airport

Today visited Galleries to collect and redistribute artwork in preparation for a show at the Inverness airport. the show is organised by Tore Gallery and will run until New year. It features my representational figurative work, including the firefighter paintings. There is also two new large canvases which will be on display in the main part of the airport, these are 56 x 44" one is 'Wedding Dance' and the other 'Paddling on Skye'. The smaller works will be on show in the lounge by the restaurant area-

also today picked up a copy the the autumn/ winter Art News Scotland Magazine with an article about our trip in it.

we have reports to write up, Lynn has already submitted some, so expect more press cuttings and articles yet.

I've also been mailing a Highland-Russia charity as I'm keen to foster any links possible, they are having an exhibition of Scottish paintings in Siberia early next year, so get involved & send one in !

Other news, still working on final Mosaic panel for the Heritage centre, there is an open day, workparty and BBQ this Saturday 4th, I will be doing a willow rag eco-arts workshop, so come and join in anyone in Lochcarron area.