Trip's sketches

"Tara Oltului" Pastel on Canson, 10x15cm

In the middle of this summer I had a car trip through the Carpati Mountains in Romania. Unfortunately, I had not the possibility to stop and admire all the beauties, I was on a business-trip. But he sceneries took my breath away. Green fabulous forests, giant cliffs and quick mountains rivers accompanied us.  Along the mountains range there were small villages. All the houses had red clay tiles on the roofs, and each villages was crowned by a high church. After we had passed the mountains, wide fields with lavenders, daisies and wheat appeared on the mountains background. If only I could stay there longer....

"FairyLand" Pastel on Canson, 16x22cm

Lilies dream

"Lilies dream", pastel and ink on color paper, 210x150mm

 

 

"Lilies", pastel on color paper, 210x150mm

I like lilies. They are gorgeous and stoutly, and they look royal. Not in vain, they are the symbol of royalty. But their smell is just astonishing and pretty sweet. They lull you into a marvel dream.

Lovely poppies

It is well known that poppies have long been used as a symbol of sleep and death. It may be obvious because of the opium extracted from them; and the blood-red color of the petals.
But I'm wondering how does this delicate and soft small flower could inherit only negative meaning? If you saw a wheat field full of poppies, you would enjoy the scenery, wouldn't you? But would you immediately recall about the sad symbols of these flowers?
I had done a small research about it, and I've found that poppies are also the flowers of youth and beauty in Slav's culture. Slavs young girls used to plait fresh red poppies in their hair at the wedding ceremony. Also, in Greek mythology, poppies are the sign of fertility in the wheat fields. So, poppies aren't so negative as it was supposed. They are peaceful, and their red color is so vivacious, full of beauty and love.
Finally, I can't imagine a Moldavian mid-summer landscape without red strokes of poppies.

Pastel with watercolor underpainting on paper, 21cmx29cm