Art Symposium Rusalka Kavarna Bulgaria 2014
I am happy with the sculpture of an abstracted mermaid (Sirena is Italian for 'mermaid') that I carved for Rusalka Resort during the symposium in Bulgaria. However, I was disappointed to have been promised a stone of at least a meter long, only to arrive and be told that I could only choose a rock on the shore that one man may may pick up and put on a beach table!
The stone was filled with holes, making the patterns on the rock rather busy. Therefore, a simple shape was the best option. And it had a reddish color, likely due to some iron in the mud-filed spaces. I still love the figure and the challenge of direct carving (meaning not using a model to copy exactly).
Given that we got to carve on the beach of the Black Sea, a mermaid seemed a suitable choice of subject. My friend Kumiko and I went together to this symposium and the trip was an adventure for us. We flew into Sofia and visited with a friend of hers. And then took the long bus ride across Bulgaria. We were picked up in a car where the bus dropped us off and driven to the resort.
I used Crayons to mark my design directly on the stone ~ WIP.
It was an interesting experience, to say the least. I met many different sorts of people. The symposium was not just sculpture, but also painting. And there were nightly performances on the stage from a variety of groups, including children. It was an interesting mix of activities, and dancing!
We ate rather well there and I loved carving on the beach in my bikini, taking swim breaks whenever I felt like it.
My understanding after the ceremonies is that each of our sculptures would be permanently mounted around the resort, as pieces from previous symposiums there were.
A large group of international artists and art symposium organizers Rusalka Bulgaria
Kumiko and I went exploring around Rusalka Resort the last day of the Art Symposium, Bulgaria.
