We are opening a new section about talented artists who are members of National Pastel Society of Russia.
Let us introduce Elena Lobovikova — an excellent artist, who has been with us since the very foundation of the society. Elena has always supported our events and presented high-quality works that have repeatedly won prizes. In accordance with the new rules on the point system, Elena became the first member of NPS to receive the status of ‘experienced artist’. Meet Elena and her artwork.
I was born in Leningrad in a family of engineers.
My artistic training began at the age of 5 at the Youth Arts Center. Then I spent 6 years learning at the Children's Art School No. 2, where the knowledge base on composition, color theory, and art history was laid down. Talented teachers conducted practical training in drawing, painting, composition and sculpture.
I got a degree in architecture at the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The curriculum included the subjects that continued my art education. In addition to that, I also attended drawing classes at Stieglitz Academy.
After graduation, I worked as an architect for LENNIIPROEKT.
When children grow up and leave their family, there appears so called ‘space’, which needs urgent filling. I got back to painting. In 2005 I found myself at Sergei Usik’s exhibition at the Centre for Architecture and was won over by his artwork. It was a discovery, a flash of inspiration! I mastered the pastel technique myself. I liked new tactile sensations, rich color palette, and new possibilities of my self-expression.
In 2008 my first solo exhibition "The Seasons" was held in a small American city in New Jersey. Then there was a long period of watercolor….
A few years ago, pastel, which had been absent from my art for some time, returned again. It manifested itself with a vengeance! A lot had changed — my style and myself.
When you study the heritage of the great masters of the past and the classics-contemporaries, you fall back on your experience and realize your desire to share your passion. In the autumn of 2019 my solo exhibition "Autumn Tints" was held in the Pink Pavilion of the State museum PAVLOVSK in St. Petersburg. For this exhibition I created artworks based on personal impressions and stories from life: landscapes of muted beauty of the Leningrad Region, urban scenes, travel memories, still-lifes. I was pleased when the exhibition visitors came up and warmly thanked me for ‘kindness and light’. This is very important for the artist! How will your feelings resonate in people's hearts? Will they remain indifferent or, looking at a child's portrait, remember something precious?
The artist's arsenal should have a wide range of subjects and means of expression. I get inspiration from my everyday life. I might be attracted by genre scenes in market squares, streetlight reflections on wet asphalt in the dusk, the play of light and shadow on housefronts, people's emotions… simple things, really. In each picture I want to tell a story that has happened in my life. These are memories: admiration for nature, for landscape atmosphere, for the beauty of ordinary things, for people’s good emotions, for light and color, for something that once "touched" and remained in the soul.
In 2019 I joined National Pastel Society of Russia. This was the beginning of a new phase when you feel you are a member of the community of like-minded people. A highly professional team of organizers and a warm atmosphere of communication inspire you to create, improve and take part in all art events. Every year new interesting artists with their own unique styles join our society. Every exhibition organized by the NPS is a bright event in the world of art and a good promotion of the pastel technique.
In 2020 it was a great joy for me to join the pastel society "Art du pastel en France". My artworks are going to participate in the international exhibition "Pastels et sculptures" in Normandy and in the exhibition “Salon International de GIVERNY 2021”. This is a great honor!
Little stories of artwork creation.
I think that most artists have storylines, that keep them coming back again and again. Even after having created dozens of drawings of one and the same landscape, under different atmospheric conditions, and after having taken hundreds of photographs, you still find something new and in sync with the mood every time you are in your favorite place. In the Leningrad Region there flows River Mga, wandering, shallow, with the banks different in height. At first glance, nothing special, but as soon as the evening sunrays illuminate the autumn gold of the field grass, the magic begins. Dynamic contrast of colors and dramatic state of nature before thunderstorm fascinate you. The picture changes quickly... twilight and rain are like a wall... but it’s a different story…
Short northern summer, end of August. I proudly laid out my modest harvest of onions on the table. The sunshine mixed with faded scallions and sparkled with gold on the skin of the onions. Reddish reflexes shone against the deep shadows. That is how light and onions became the main characters of a series of still life paintings.
I love children. So much energy and hunger for learning! Games, laughter and non-stop questions about the world. But there should be a pause in the game, and the best place for it is Mom’s lap. In this image I’m trying to show the magic of the moment, emotions and mood, I’m trying to bring kindness, sincerity and truth.
I’ll be very happy if my artwork can influence people’s choices, and they will enthusiastically start mastering the basics of painting, graphics and composition - someone might choose painting as a job, someone might choose painting as a hobby. The main thing is to enjoy creating something new and unique, something full of emotions, imagination, and passion.