You read my name already. Or knew it before, and came here to inquire who I am and what I do.
What I do can be described by two words: sew and paint. I sew bags, purses, pillows, and magnets (yes, and magnets too!). I paint on bags sewed by me, or on boards fired by me.
…and always sewed, as far as I remember. My mother is a dressmaker. That’s why I can’t answer the question when I learned to sew, but can answer easily “where”: at home, of course.
Sewing school was the next. The main thing that I learned at Simferopol sewing school – to make straight stitches with a sewing machine. Certainly, we learned many other useful things, but it was the sewing school teachers who provided me to the skill to make accurate and straight stitches.
At sewing school, I studied how to cut and sew dresses. The basics of work with leather I learned later, in a little manufactory, where we made leather jackets. The best way to learn is repairing – so I did it. I changed zippers, sewed holes in pockets, and so on. A woman next table between this and then showed me how to make a cosmetic bag from leather scraps. I didn’t think of any landscape at that time.
That manufactory hasn’t existed for a long time – but I sew cosmetic bags till now. Landscapes appeared thanks to my – that time she was prospective – mother-in-law. She had seen my cosmetic bag and proposed to collect different color scraps for uniting them into a picture. It was the year 1999.
Since then, I have been making pictures with the help of chalk and tailor’s scissors. Long ago their quantity crossed № 100. My logo – palette, and brush with scissors are sticking out of it. This picture reflects the essence of my work. Scissors are the same “painting” tool for me, as a brush.
Step by step I was coming up with new bags and purses. All the patterns were drawn by me. Twenty years of this process gave me great experience and a big assortiment: I have more than 40 models. All my sewing crafts can be divided into two big groups: either they are in the form of something or there is something painted on them.
…by acrylic paints. I like their hiding power and ability to stick tightly on any surface.
I opened acrylic paints not long ago. I studied at Feodosia Art school (by the way, successfully), and used watercolor and gouache. But the thing is not in the paint. Till now I remember with warmth our teachers, who provided us, naughty and noisy, sometimes lazy, sometimes slow-witted, to understand subtleties of composition and color combination. The main – they trained us to See. Drawing skills come with practice.
Now I paint on leather and paint on wood boards. Also, I paint additional landscapes that were collected from different color scraps of leather. This way they become “…really alive with paints – even it is possible to hear the noise of wind in grass. And the rustle of the waves, and warm night breeze…” (c) comment of one customer.
…always was near me. I grew up in Feodosia at the seaside near mountains. Crimean landscapes “lay” very well in collages of leather scraps, and I know Crimea very well. I studied Geography at Crimean Federal University, and work as a guide now (there is another site about this). I not only saw Crimean landscapes – I felt them deeply. It is natural that Crimean land became a part of my creativity.
But there is not only Crimea at my bags. It can be any other landscape – in Europe, America, anywhere. Send me a picture of your favorite landscape – and I’ll tell you how to transform it into a leather picture on your bag. Examples you can see at this page.
…are small yet. It is hard to say what they will do in the future, but for sure their mom will teach them knowledge about Crimea and how to live creative life – by her personal example.
So, now my daughter tests fantasy bags with pleasure and tries to model.
Life of the children of creative mom (video)
…is not only a method to go fast to a bakery. It is also a method to see the world. I took part in bike trips in Crimea, and outside of it. Although this site is about my creativity, I posted here the stories about my travels. Why not? I like to write about it, and my friends like to read it. If you like to read about travels – look into blog.