"Trail to Arcadia"

Solo exhibition at Lee. E. Dulgar Gallery

South Suburban College

South Holland, IL

August 25-September 17, 2014

 Trail to Arcadia, watercolor 12"x12", 2013

I am very excited about my new solo exhibition at Lee. E Dulgar Gallery, that opens next Monday, where I will be showing my "Trail to Arcadia" series of watercolors.

 I started this series last year, while visiting a beautiful place from my childhood; Bovec, in Slovenia.

 This mountainous area, where my family and I used to spend many summer and winter vacations is truly enchanting, and each and every time I visit I am astonished by the transcending landscapes; crystal clear mountain rivers, creeks, lakes and waterfalls, whose colors range from light turquoise to teal, deep forests - their ground covered with moss, ferns and all kinds of lush green plants, while the cool air is so crisp and clean, one feels like ones lungs are breathing for the first time! A true harmony of nature.

I titled the series thus "Trail to Arcadia"; Arcadia being a repeated artistic subject since antiquity, both in visual arts and literature. It stands as a synonym for any idyllic location, a place where life is lived naturally, uncorrupted by civilization.

I am often surprised to discover how much of my inspiration is closely connected to my childhood impressions and memories. And though one could say this series is in a way inspired by landscape, it is much more about the "within", about the feelings that this "outside world" evokes to me.

Moving on to new challenges... 

As I am about to start working on a big commission of three huge watercolors, I am in the process of retracing my steps of painting on a more typical paper format (e.g. 22"x30", the one you can see me working on in these photos), and rehearsing the choreography for this exciting and somewhat extravagant dance I am about to perform (this time on a scale of 55"x93"!). 

 That is more then seven times bigger than what you can see in the photos here.

I like to compare my process to a choreographed dance, where at the same time I know exactly what I am doing, yet I am also being surprised by the flow of paint and its very fast and unpredictable "will".

 Watercolor is not a forgiving medium, as it cannot be painted over with new covering layers; like it is the case with oil or acrylic. 

I think the fact it has "a will of its own" is one of the biggest reasons I love it so much.

I have to conform to the unexpectedness and I have to accept that it can't be reigned completely.

Or at least, the way I see it, if watercolor is relieved of its unpredictable properties, it loses its splendor, its inner life.

So, curiously yet confidently I am throwing myself at this new challenge and can't wait to create, experience, and - witness these new, large paintings.