Katia and the Sunday Trip

My dear readers,

It has been along long week! Throughout the week I was thinking hard about the topic of the future blog post. Of course, there are still a lot of people, whose artistic identity hasn’t been covered and even revealed to AUBG community yet. But simply because I taped on one topic in my last article, I had a desire to proceed with.

I have already mentioned Katia Makarova in when telling you the story about the outdoors painting session. And because I thought that an initiator of such an event should be practicing art by default, I asked Katia for one more interview. Fortunately I did not only receive her consent but also got invited on the field trip to the Sofia National Art Gallery – field trip organized for the Beginning/Intermediate Drawing classes. Therefore, I did twice as much as I have planned: I had a lovely Sunday in the pleasant company in Art Gallery and I took the interview and shoot some materials for my assignment.

In the park

We set off for a trip to Sofia in the morning and reached the destination by early afternoon. Professor Issay Penchev met us next to Alexandr Nevskiy’s Chathedral and accompanied us to the National Gallery., where we spent next hour or so. To be honest, I did not expect much of the museum itself, nevertheless, it turned to be a good one. Following professor’s observations we were moving from painting to painting succeeding from one period in Bulgarian art to another. And even though, I can’t say that the richness of gallery’s collection left me speechless, I was satisfied with what was available for display.

Finals are approaching

After familiarizing ourselves with the main exhibits, we went to the exposition, devoted to photography. When we were done with that, we split in few small groups and headed to different directions, which nonetheless led to malls (I presume). After prompt shopping we reunited and took the bus back to Blago.

You might wonder when I had a chance to talk to Katia about her artistic past, present or, might be even future. Well, you are right, it was not an easy task to approach one with the questions through the curtain of the fitting room. So, I am happy we had a 2-hour bus trip each way, which provided me with a great opportunity to talk my interviewee.

I have known Katia for two years already. I also had a vague knowledge of her practicing drawing and painting. As I learnt today, Katia actually has 5 years of art school in her record and ten years of drawing experience. According to Katia, her experience in the art school was a good one. She enjoyed both the classes and her professors, with who she was able to hold long diverse conversations.  She was encouraged to participate in different contests and competitions, which in the end enabled her to travel around Russia. All in all, I had an impression that she really enjoyed the time she spent drawing:

“I loved my art school. I was a good student, among the best ones in my class. If I could do nothing but attending an art school, I would go for it!”

Thus, it is not a surprise; Katia had a serious intention to continue doing arts by entering an architecture school in Ekaterinburg: “I was spending all my free time in the art school sketching and getting prepared for the entrance exams. I was really serious about it”. What came between her and architecture was AUBG:

“I just decided to try to give entrance exams, and as it turned out I got accepted. My parents and tutor told it was a great opportunity. And I don’t regret it. It was a good chance to go away from my hometown”.

It is not the first time students have stated that AUBG was an opportunity to get out from their cities and countries. Some of the reasons young people would like to flee from their homes were greater opportunities provided abroad and simply boredom. Katia explained that the overall level in here is higher. Besides, she said, staying in her hometown wouldn’t make her as active, as she is now.

Katia checking the local artists

Of course, the advantages of AUBG are great, but what about her artistic development. Katia has not been drawing since she came to AUBG, especially her freshmen year. She doesn’t think art exists as a hobby: “To be a real artist, one should depend on art”. Therefore, since Katia future intended profession isn’t art-related, she doesn’t see incentives to continue painting and drawing. She still continues to draw from time to time, but not that seriously. What is interesting, however, is the burning light in her eyes when she speaks about the newly introduced drawing sessions on Tuesdays organized by professor. Who knows maybe it’s still not the end?!

See you next week,

Tata

P.S. We met some out-of-gallery art on the streets of Sofia

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