By
God’s will I was born on 25th
June
1981. The first signs of my talent appeared in
kindergarten where I drew a rabbit. My teacher took
this drawing from section to section, showing it to all
pupils.
My introduction to painting, or to be more precise, drawing, emerged from love towards unknown world of paintings, drawings and art in general. As a fourteen-year-old boy, thanking to my father who eagerly directed my talent, I visited ateliers of local painters (two of them nourished painting that moved from naïve painting to realism). Noticing my outstanding talent, the third, young academic artist, started influencing my still unshaped artistic being. After a year in this artist’s studio (who earlier painted in stile of Matisse and then in stile of realism) I gained basic knowledge and concept of drawing. Only one question preoccupied my mind in this period – Do I really love painting-. Being very young I did not have the answer to this question since I still haven’t comprehended the deeper sense of painting. Firmly determined to love painting regardless of ambition, but only with the wish to peep into that temple of art, I moved on. My path took me to a new town and to a completely new studio.
Studio of my new tutor was full of students older than me, who were preparing for art academies, architecture and design faculties. Studio of this unusual painter, who was then in his sixth decade of life, was filled with paintings in spirit of impressionism with lively color lines, lightness and subject of hidden surrealism. In this studio I learned the technique of aquarelle painting. Twice a week for one whole year I went to this painter’s classes and I could say that he had accepted me very quickly. Pursued by his demands I was drawing geometric wire objects for a year. He demanded extreme knowledge in geometry. He first taught me composition as inviolable element of artistic work. Then he taught me proportion and at last, mastering perspective. I had spent days in this studio until I finally mastered rules of drawing. It happened that, under his supervision, I was drawing one single wire cube for days. This discipline has taken me to art school, directly to painting course.
I spent over a year preparing for entrance examination and I was entered as two hundred thirty second candidate. Ten of us enrolled the university, and I was second on the list. With exquisite teachers in school, some of them were over sixty years old, I gained first knowledge in history of art, drawing, painting, wall painting, literature and other. This was my first artistic education, something more than drawing and painting.
Lost in the sea of young beginners, older, formed friends, I entered a new world. As a fifteen year old boy, completely alone in unfamiliar world, far away from family, put on a test of independence I entered the world of adult painters and formed stiles of painting.
School’s universal stile made an influence on me at the second year (mixture of realism, social realism in color and studies of still life and portraits). In school’s basement I painted icons, frescoes and made mosaics. Here, I was introduced to icon painting of Byzantium, which I still actively nourish. Thanking to exquisite knowledge and devotion of graphics teachers, graphics became my fulfilled world and work which I practiced at graphics workshop. As teacher’s friend I did copper etching, copper engraving, dry needle and other techniques and spent many nights, together with him, above graphic tables and press. Here, I managed to set free my new world of painting. Graphics was a vanguard of my previous art. Tireless experimenting and love towards graphics founded my drawing and opened the door of courage in painting – modern art (which did contain hard and secure realistic drawing). Experiments made in this graphic workshop made the way to my further painting. At final year of studies I developed into, should I say, a painter with enough self-confidence. My self-confidence was justified by constant work in school’s studio (mostly afternoons) in time when everyone else were already gone. In the evenings, after school, although tired, I went to city’s quay where I drew city’s landscape with figures. From wire objects through antique gypsum heads, Michelangelo’s gypsum castings and romantic gypsum portraits I came to painting and drawing of human portraits and nude. This path has for sure taken me to academy.
Painting under school’s spirit, my colors were mostly cold, grey with ocher and a little bit of reds, and with use of earth tones. Being a skilled drawer at that time, the sound and tone of color as well as the paste on my paintings were my next task.
Since I was first on the list when enrolling the academy I gave myself a task to keep that position. Work, literature and conversations with teachers have surely helped me a lot. My first wish concerning my paintings was to revive the colors. I threw out earth tones and of course, grey ones. What took most of my time and patience was reducing the amount of blue tones in my paintings. My drawing, which had foundation and strength, now gained personal characteristic. Creative drawing appeared in my creative work.
Chronology of my paintings subject matter
Subject matter of my sketches, in contrast to social subject matter of paintings (painted according to live models), was Greek (firstly, vase painting), and the painter I studied most thoroughly was Rembrandt. Impressions of his skilled drawings of atmosphere and scene had great influence on me because I copied them in secondary school. Development of light and shadows of earth tones in my paintings originates from Rembrandt’s paintings which I saw in person after a while. The following painters of this period who inspired me were Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. Continuous copying of Klimt and Rembrandt’s paintings developed one of significant foundations of my painting.
Of course, all my – drawings, paintings and graphics improved not only by work and conversations with people connected to art, but with development of my intelligence and emotions. Literature and everyday reading broadened perspective of my paintings. During first years at academy I continued my long and thorough work in graphic workshop. Thanking to exquisite knowledge of teachers (names like Franc Curk), I am introduced to new and somewhat alternative and vanguard techniques in graphics. These experiments opened some horizons of my paintings. Proving to myself and others my ambition without any burdens, I started my painting with a dose of self-confidence. I searched for the sound of color, interesting composition and did mostly two-dimensional paintings. I reduced perspective on my paintings to two-dimensional painting so I could, by high structure and searching for new tonalities, show to myself and others new kind of painting. Persistent search and movement towards color has freshened my paintings and gave them a new look, which my works have today. I did accomplish my major task I have set then – that every color on my paintings is strong and expressed emotion. Colors and structures on my paintings are my emotions. Cobalt blue would point to freedom and Prussian blue would point to depth and distant space of soul. Yellow would point to speech of life. Yellow is the essence of life and that is why it was poorly used in the beginning, only as an emphasis, but later on it came to complete liberation of life in one picture (beautiful day) at the end of academic education. White has always represented cleansing of my soul and liberation from all prejudice and rules about painting. Painting in white would liberate my soul from complicated emotions and tension which result from unfinished painting. Cinnabar red is my association to religion, and rare usage of other kind of red expresses the deep mystery of unknown. Grey is always used in small amounts only as a peace among too strong tones, so it could make peace and connect strong and loud contrasts. Black is very rare and is used only to highlight and broaden the significance of some other color, but as a surface almost never. Ocher and orange, broadly under-painted surfaces, foundation for speech of colors that later come. Peace they produce, often with their ampleness, calms down the sounds of bright and lively colors in the eye of a viewer. Green is rarely used in my paintings since it hardly finds peace with other tones.
Structure has significant reputation in my paintings: firstly, to deepen the sound of color, then, to give emphases to surface. Its deeper significance is personification of ancient, as religion.
Shape in my paintings is only a reason for game of surfaces and colors. Motives are many times religious.
Final years at academy are marked by accomplishing significant recognitions. First of all, there are praises from professors in whose subjects (expert subjects) I had the highest marks. My voluminous work that obviously differed from a group made me a faculty representative in country as well as abroad. At that time I got city’s recognition as one of ten best students. Most significant of all is recognition of Kingdom of Norway for achieved successes in education. Soon after, I finished faculty with average mark of 9, 65, and maximal mark of 10 for final graduation exhibition. I got central space in the gallery and praise from a professor at final exhibition (with artworks Religion, Beautiful day and Nature).
However, deep inside of me, hidden from all the others, there was a wish to become European painter. This wish led the way to post-graduate studies. Since I was mostly formed painter post-graduate studies brought the best part of art – search for my own personality, search for unusual and pure feelings that make me fulfill my present and develop future works. I enrolled post-graduate studies so I could become an assistant of drawing and painting at the faculty. I enrolled at the art faculty in Kosovo. This unusual situation hindered my studies because of political situation. Today, as advanced university student I prepare my final exhibition. I, as well work in primary school, where I teach children the basics of art elements, rules, drawing and painting. Parallel to this, and to my great satisfaction I teach History of art in one secondary school.
General subject matter of my paintings
It was always the hardest for me to define the subject matter of my paintings. Sometimes I think that it does not exist, many times is subconscious, but for sure, almost always is the reason to express temporary feelings, love, imagination, religion, tradition and, of course, psychology of a personality. My painting originated from one not too bright and old studio of art school. Painting is like the sea, the further you get from the shore it becomes wider and deeper. By remembering these first words of my old teacher-mature painter, I knew that ahead of me was a long and not very easy road, but filled with adventure and story of one life. My life is in fact the subject matter of my paintings, mostly subconscious than conscious. Uncertainty and wish at that road as well as curiosity nourished me through it. My arrogant lords and faithful servants on this road were my emotions. Eager for success, not big but directed to a good painting, I spent several hours a day in the library absorbing paintings of old masters. First Serbian, Byzantine painting, painting of El Greco and Velasquez, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt, Schiele, Serbian socialist realism, Tanner, Hunder, Vaser and others.
No matter to crashes in love and life, my painting developed with my every feeling. Today, on a life road of joy and bitterness it grows together with me. But recently I realized that I need something to do for a living and I started loosing hope that my painting will live, grow and develop. But, with God’s will and will of good people, I can hope again. With this hope and will, even bigger than ever, I can create with all my heart without prejudice and fears for my painting.
Artistic charge and process of liberation
From different people and in different places I heard that painting is something that relaxes people. My point of view is completely different. Maximal effort of intelligence, creativity and emotions can lead to a good painting. Most often, at the very beginning of creation of new artwork I get disappointed, dissatisfied and demoralized. With the smallest perspective that the matter is saved, things turn around and my soul is overwhelmed by warm satisfaction. While painting, my mind is filled with people, events, words, life, all those things that happened in that moment give me crystal clear picture of my life. Every move, color and shape take me back to some past event. As painting progresses, thoughts and life situation become clearer. And when the painting is clearly opened (in my head and heart) I completely conquer it by safe steps. As if bad mood inside of me refracts and develops into good mood and all of a sudden the painting has sense.
My introduction to painting, or to be more precise, drawing, emerged from love towards unknown world of paintings, drawings and art in general. As a fourteen-year-old boy, thanking to my father who eagerly directed my talent, I visited ateliers of local painters (two of them nourished painting that moved from naïve painting to realism). Noticing my outstanding talent, the third, young academic artist, started influencing my still unshaped artistic being. After a year in this artist’s studio (who earlier painted in stile of Matisse and then in stile of realism) I gained basic knowledge and concept of drawing. Only one question preoccupied my mind in this period – Do I really love painting-. Being very young I did not have the answer to this question since I still haven’t comprehended the deeper sense of painting. Firmly determined to love painting regardless of ambition, but only with the wish to peep into that temple of art, I moved on. My path took me to a new town and to a completely new studio.
Studio of my new tutor was full of students older than me, who were preparing for art academies, architecture and design faculties. Studio of this unusual painter, who was then in his sixth decade of life, was filled with paintings in spirit of impressionism with lively color lines, lightness and subject of hidden surrealism. In this studio I learned the technique of aquarelle painting. Twice a week for one whole year I went to this painter’s classes and I could say that he had accepted me very quickly. Pursued by his demands I was drawing geometric wire objects for a year. He demanded extreme knowledge in geometry. He first taught me composition as inviolable element of artistic work. Then he taught me proportion and at last, mastering perspective. I had spent days in this studio until I finally mastered rules of drawing. It happened that, under his supervision, I was drawing one single wire cube for days. This discipline has taken me to art school, directly to painting course.
I spent over a year preparing for entrance examination and I was entered as two hundred thirty second candidate. Ten of us enrolled the university, and I was second on the list. With exquisite teachers in school, some of them were over sixty years old, I gained first knowledge in history of art, drawing, painting, wall painting, literature and other. This was my first artistic education, something more than drawing and painting.
Lost in the sea of young beginners, older, formed friends, I entered a new world. As a fifteen year old boy, completely alone in unfamiliar world, far away from family, put on a test of independence I entered the world of adult painters and formed stiles of painting.
School’s universal stile made an influence on me at the second year (mixture of realism, social realism in color and studies of still life and portraits). In school’s basement I painted icons, frescoes and made mosaics. Here, I was introduced to icon painting of Byzantium, which I still actively nourish. Thanking to exquisite knowledge and devotion of graphics teachers, graphics became my fulfilled world and work which I practiced at graphics workshop. As teacher’s friend I did copper etching, copper engraving, dry needle and other techniques and spent many nights, together with him, above graphic tables and press. Here, I managed to set free my new world of painting. Graphics was a vanguard of my previous art. Tireless experimenting and love towards graphics founded my drawing and opened the door of courage in painting – modern art (which did contain hard and secure realistic drawing). Experiments made in this graphic workshop made the way to my further painting. At final year of studies I developed into, should I say, a painter with enough self-confidence. My self-confidence was justified by constant work in school’s studio (mostly afternoons) in time when everyone else were already gone. In the evenings, after school, although tired, I went to city’s quay where I drew city’s landscape with figures. From wire objects through antique gypsum heads, Michelangelo’s gypsum castings and romantic gypsum portraits I came to painting and drawing of human portraits and nude. This path has for sure taken me to academy.
Painting under school’s spirit, my colors were mostly cold, grey with ocher and a little bit of reds, and with use of earth tones. Being a skilled drawer at that time, the sound and tone of color as well as the paste on my paintings were my next task.
Since I was first on the list when enrolling the academy I gave myself a task to keep that position. Work, literature and conversations with teachers have surely helped me a lot. My first wish concerning my paintings was to revive the colors. I threw out earth tones and of course, grey ones. What took most of my time and patience was reducing the amount of blue tones in my paintings. My drawing, which had foundation and strength, now gained personal characteristic. Creative drawing appeared in my creative work.
Chronology of my paintings subject matter
Subject matter of my sketches, in contrast to social subject matter of paintings (painted according to live models), was Greek (firstly, vase painting), and the painter I studied most thoroughly was Rembrandt. Impressions of his skilled drawings of atmosphere and scene had great influence on me because I copied them in secondary school. Development of light and shadows of earth tones in my paintings originates from Rembrandt’s paintings which I saw in person after a while. The following painters of this period who inspired me were Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt. Continuous copying of Klimt and Rembrandt’s paintings developed one of significant foundations of my painting.
Of course, all my – drawings, paintings and graphics improved not only by work and conversations with people connected to art, but with development of my intelligence and emotions. Literature and everyday reading broadened perspective of my paintings. During first years at academy I continued my long and thorough work in graphic workshop. Thanking to exquisite knowledge of teachers (names like Franc Curk), I am introduced to new and somewhat alternative and vanguard techniques in graphics. These experiments opened some horizons of my paintings. Proving to myself and others my ambition without any burdens, I started my painting with a dose of self-confidence. I searched for the sound of color, interesting composition and did mostly two-dimensional paintings. I reduced perspective on my paintings to two-dimensional painting so I could, by high structure and searching for new tonalities, show to myself and others new kind of painting. Persistent search and movement towards color has freshened my paintings and gave them a new look, which my works have today. I did accomplish my major task I have set then – that every color on my paintings is strong and expressed emotion. Colors and structures on my paintings are my emotions. Cobalt blue would point to freedom and Prussian blue would point to depth and distant space of soul. Yellow would point to speech of life. Yellow is the essence of life and that is why it was poorly used in the beginning, only as an emphasis, but later on it came to complete liberation of life in one picture (beautiful day) at the end of academic education. White has always represented cleansing of my soul and liberation from all prejudice and rules about painting. Painting in white would liberate my soul from complicated emotions and tension which result from unfinished painting. Cinnabar red is my association to religion, and rare usage of other kind of red expresses the deep mystery of unknown. Grey is always used in small amounts only as a peace among too strong tones, so it could make peace and connect strong and loud contrasts. Black is very rare and is used only to highlight and broaden the significance of some other color, but as a surface almost never. Ocher and orange, broadly under-painted surfaces, foundation for speech of colors that later come. Peace they produce, often with their ampleness, calms down the sounds of bright and lively colors in the eye of a viewer. Green is rarely used in my paintings since it hardly finds peace with other tones.
Structure has significant reputation in my paintings: firstly, to deepen the sound of color, then, to give emphases to surface. Its deeper significance is personification of ancient, as religion.
Shape in my paintings is only a reason for game of surfaces and colors. Motives are many times religious.
Final years at academy are marked by accomplishing significant recognitions. First of all, there are praises from professors in whose subjects (expert subjects) I had the highest marks. My voluminous work that obviously differed from a group made me a faculty representative in country as well as abroad. At that time I got city’s recognition as one of ten best students. Most significant of all is recognition of Kingdom of Norway for achieved successes in education. Soon after, I finished faculty with average mark of 9, 65, and maximal mark of 10 for final graduation exhibition. I got central space in the gallery and praise from a professor at final exhibition (with artworks Religion, Beautiful day and Nature).
However, deep inside of me, hidden from all the others, there was a wish to become European painter. This wish led the way to post-graduate studies. Since I was mostly formed painter post-graduate studies brought the best part of art – search for my own personality, search for unusual and pure feelings that make me fulfill my present and develop future works. I enrolled post-graduate studies so I could become an assistant of drawing and painting at the faculty. I enrolled at the art faculty in Kosovo. This unusual situation hindered my studies because of political situation. Today, as advanced university student I prepare my final exhibition. I, as well work in primary school, where I teach children the basics of art elements, rules, drawing and painting. Parallel to this, and to my great satisfaction I teach History of art in one secondary school.
General subject matter of my paintings
It was always the hardest for me to define the subject matter of my paintings. Sometimes I think that it does not exist, many times is subconscious, but for sure, almost always is the reason to express temporary feelings, love, imagination, religion, tradition and, of course, psychology of a personality. My painting originated from one not too bright and old studio of art school. Painting is like the sea, the further you get from the shore it becomes wider and deeper. By remembering these first words of my old teacher-mature painter, I knew that ahead of me was a long and not very easy road, but filled with adventure and story of one life. My life is in fact the subject matter of my paintings, mostly subconscious than conscious. Uncertainty and wish at that road as well as curiosity nourished me through it. My arrogant lords and faithful servants on this road were my emotions. Eager for success, not big but directed to a good painting, I spent several hours a day in the library absorbing paintings of old masters. First Serbian, Byzantine painting, painting of El Greco and Velasquez, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt, Schiele, Serbian socialist realism, Tanner, Hunder, Vaser and others.
No matter to crashes in love and life, my painting developed with my every feeling. Today, on a life road of joy and bitterness it grows together with me. But recently I realized that I need something to do for a living and I started loosing hope that my painting will live, grow and develop. But, with God’s will and will of good people, I can hope again. With this hope and will, even bigger than ever, I can create with all my heart without prejudice and fears for my painting.
Artistic charge and process of liberation
From different people and in different places I heard that painting is something that relaxes people. My point of view is completely different. Maximal effort of intelligence, creativity and emotions can lead to a good painting. Most often, at the very beginning of creation of new artwork I get disappointed, dissatisfied and demoralized. With the smallest perspective that the matter is saved, things turn around and my soul is overwhelmed by warm satisfaction. While painting, my mind is filled with people, events, words, life, all those things that happened in that moment give me crystal clear picture of my life. Every move, color and shape take me back to some past event. As painting progresses, thoughts and life situation become clearer. And when the painting is clearly opened (in my head and heart) I completely conquer it by safe steps. As if bad mood inside of me refracts and develops into good mood and all of a sudden the painting has sense.