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Alpine mountains in pastel seen from my window.

Taste the Moldavian Autumn!

The weather has changed into cold and rainy one. It's not sad, but it makes me stay inside and recover myself after a flu. In order to not waist the priceless time, I'm going to present the other side of Moldavian Autumns: yellow fragrant quinces and juicy grapes!
 What can be more suggestive?

"Moldavian Autumn" pastel 12x23cm

" A basket with quinces" pastel 34x23cm

Autumn

This year autumn offers an unexpected color show! Personally, I tried to spend my free time enjoying the warm weather and relaxing with my pastels outside. Take a look what has been obtained :)

"Golden Autumn" pastel on Canson paper  29x14cm

"Russian motif" pastel  20x12cm

Moldavian landscape

What can be more pleasant for the soul then enjoying a middle summer scenery from your native country?!
Probably, it depends, but personally for me this is associated with peace and happiness. I'd spent my childhood in a small village in the heart of Moldova, and the local landscapes penetrated deeply in my soul. There was a happy and carefree time. So, I can't hide the excitement of admiring a piece of paradise!

"Moldova" Pastel 4x6''

Happy flower

It's so glad to admire when it is in blossom, because this is Gladiolus. :)

"Gladioli" Pastel  15x21cm

Summer Sketchbook: Flowers(part 3)

Summer hasn't finished yet, and the sketchbook is filling with new and fresh ideas inspired by nature.

"Snails invasion" Ink on paper  10x15cm

"Violet in the shade" Pastel  10x15cm

Summer Sketchbook: Favorite color (part 2)

My favorite color is yellow. Why? Because it makes me smile every time, and it gets up my mood anywhere I see it. It has an energizing effect on me. Probably an artist wouldn't have to like a specific color, but I can not resist in front of beautiful natural yellow of wheat fields, sun-flowers fields, meadows, steppes, forests in fall and all kind of springs flowers.
Here are some quick sketches of yellow cone-flowers.

"A little Sun" Pastel on craft paper  14x10cm

''Sweet yellow"  Pastel on craft paper  14x10cm

But what is your favorite color?

Summer Sketchbook: The Wild Carrot

Summer had never been so colorful like it is this year! Probably, I haven't noticed that earlier because I wasn't so hooked on pastel painting?! Who knows... But this summer I have a great desire to paint everything I see, especially landscapes and flowers. 
Firstly, taking advantage of my small vacation I decided to escape from city life into a village area. And finally, I've found my small paradise: large meadows full of wild steppe flowers and wonderful Moldavian sceneries.

So, the flowers are the main theme of this beautiful and hot season, and here are some of my sketches. 

"Meadow: The shame"  Pastel  9x14cm

Once, my grandmother told me a legend about this flower. Many-many years ago the wild carrot flower looked different: the dark-red dot in the middle was larger and the people in the world were more decent, modest and kindhearted. Now, this dot is getting smaller and smaller, and when it disappears at all people will forget about the shame, and the world will become more cruel and careless. That's why it's called the Shame-flower. Seemes to be true!

"Queen Anne's lace" Pastel  10x15cm

The wild carrot or Daucus carota catched my attention, and I was surprised finding another name and another story. The flower was introduced and naturalised in North America, where it is known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is called so because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in the center is thought to represent a blood droplet where Queen Anne (Queen of Great Britain) pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. A nice and beautiful story.
 So, it depends on you which one you trust, but it's all about legend, because the function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is to attract insects.
 But, if You know another story about the wild carrot flower, I would like to hear it! :)

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

Thepresent.md

I'm very happy and proud that finally in Moldova has been launced an internet shop of presents. Thepresent.md- here you can find original and exclusive things. All of them are 100% handmade. But the most important is that here you can buy my art-works. Moreover, all of them are framed, and just waiting to beautify your house! Don't miss your chance ;)

La cirese (Try the cherries!)

Which is the taste of the summer?
Here in Moldova, in my small beautiful country, I believe that the juicy and sweet cherries describe perfectly this taste.
So, the weather outside is practically the same. Firstly, the air is full with blossoms's smell. Secondly, the fresh wind claims you for walking and admiring all these beauties. And finally, the short summer rains refresh the nature, making it to become greener and to blossom more and more.
And the red and ripe cherries cannot be absent in the beginning of the summer!

Pastel on Canson, 21x21cm