86. Stepping into the same river for the second time.

As we all know, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man" (Heraclitus). But we sometimes revisit something we have done in the past. For several months now, Victor has been re-drawing his works into a larger format. So far, most of his drawings have been made on the letter size paper (well, it's dimensions in Ukraine are slightly different from our 8" by 11.5''). Now he decided on a larger format, and he sends me the new versions of some of his old works. Of course, I see the same size e-mail attachments, but he also makes some minor changes. I thought it would be interesting to share some of them to see how an artist decides how to improve his previous works. Also, for us - observers - it will be like playing a "find 10 distinctions" game. So I am going to show old and new versions back to back: old on the left, new on the right.

In this really old drawing (I remember it since the 1980's), Victor decided to get rid of color (why?), but instead to make the beard and the foam more organized (why? maybe to stress their resemblance?). 

Flanders                                                                 A Tavern

Victor usually doesn't entitle his drawings when he creates them. He often gave them names when he sent them to me, and sometimes they were a part of our conversation. So now, I don't think the name changes are very meaningful, they just reflect his thoughts at a moment.

In the following case, as in many others, he just emphasized the lines and made a black background. Also, is it just me, of the new thinker seems a little sadder?

Let's be Wise                                                                  The  Thinker

In some cases, Victor adds some details that emphasize the meaning. I suspect that now he actually looks at his creations differently, they actually mean different things to him. The new title of the drawing is "Love," so this simply calls for some flowers, I guess.

                                                                                       


                                               
                                  Loyalty                                                                    Love

Moses is one of my most favorite Victor's works. I actually framed it and hung on a wall, so I know it pretty well. So I was surprised to see additional details. But they definitely make sense. God appeared to Moses through a burning bush. And when Moses doubted who he was talking to, his staff turned into a snake and then back into a staff.

Moses

In his first version of Pythagoras, Victor just wrote his name. I guess, he  didn't expect that everyone knew the story about the dog.And rightly so; I need to admit, I had to ask him, why dog? Victor sent me to search, which I did: according to a legend, when Pythagoras saw someone beating a dog, he stopped him: believing in the multiple lives, he heard  the voice of a friend  in the yelping of the dog. So in his second version Victor provided a more recognizable attribute of Pythagoras, the one he is the most famous for.

Pythagoras

So after all, this post fully confirms the opening quote!

85. Music and Musicians

Even though I have posted Victor's drawings about music, I was surprised to realize that I never had a whole post devoted to this rich topic. It's a timely realization, because just today he sent a drawing that I can't wait to post. He named it Tatiana - I really have no idea why. If he explains it to me, I'll add it to the post. My guess is that he knows a cello player with this name.

A long time ago he shared another drawing, this time he told me it's about his friend, a violinist, whose last name was Ganzha: 

But that was more like a cartoon or caricature, specific for this particular person. Tatiana, on the other side, is more universal, as many of Victor's drawings, it's about the unity of any musician with his/her instrument, where you can't really take them apart. This reminded me his other work, one of my favorites, "By the Wave of My Memory."

"By the Wave of My Memory."

"По Волне моей Памяти"

Victor is always afraid to seem too sentimental , so to "bring down the pathos," I'll post another type of musician.

"Serenade"

"Серенада"

84. How to Draw Emotions - Part 2.

My first post under this name came out soon after I started doing this blog - almost three years ago. As I did then, I still admire Victor's ability to convey a certain human state, or emotion or mood using a minimum amount of artistic means,  simply a few lines!

The truth is that Victor does not draw a particular mood or emotion or state. He usually starts drawing without even knowing what will come out of it, and he never gives names to his drawings as he works on them or right after. From my experience, he entitles them only when he sends them to me, and I have observed, at least a few times, how the same drawing could have totally different titles, and both of them would be fitting for those particular occasions that he chooses to send these drawings. 

All drawings in this post were selected and sent to me as responses to my requests on particular topics (see several posts about "Challenge"). In other words, I give Victor a theme/idea/word, and he finds a drawing that illustrates it. Because these drawings are saved chronologically in his folder on my computer, I realized recently that I can use them to restore the time-line of my own emotions, to some degree! But because I don't have any intention to make it public, I will place them here out or order. 

"Loss"

"Потеря"

"Patience"

"Терпение"

"Doubt"

"Сомнение"

"Jealousy"

"Ревность"

"Despair"

"Отчаяние"

"Tenderness"

"Нежность"

Victor, the artist, needs your HELP! If you've been here already, you know about my fundraiser. If not - please read at  

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

Last Fall, I was able to collect and to send him $12,500 for cancer treatment, but he needs more. 

He is my friend and a talented artist. But I cannot afford this myself. Please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print of his drawing - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife         and

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

83. Father's Day, Mother's Day

There is no Father's Day in Ukraine (and there is no Mother's Day either). I'd like to devote this post to Victor himself, who brings up his daughter alone since she was six (and now she is 23!).

I thought it would make sense to make a post today that would fit this occasion. But I couldn't really find many dads' drawings among Victor's  work. So then I decided to select some of his drawings about parents in general - it will be a post retroactively devoted to the Mother's Day as well.

This one is my favorite. It's a very old drawing. I remember it from the 1990's. But I like how Victor brings new life into his work: when a few years ago I proudly sent him a photo of my 22 year old son, he sent me this drawing, entitling in "The Pride of My Son." 

 "The Pride of My Son"

"Гордость Моим Сыном"

"Mom"

"Мама"

"Father"

"Отец"

"A Mother and a Daughter" 

"Мать и Дочь"

Victor, the artist, needs your help! If you've been here already, you know about my fundraiser. If not - please read at 

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

Last Fall, I was able to collect and to send him $12,500 for cancer treatment, but he needs more. 

He is my friend and a talented artist. But I cannot afford this myself. Please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print of his drawing - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife         and

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

82. What's on his mind?

For the first time since I started this blog almost three years ago I couldn't easily come up with the theme. Usually I am waiting for some idea, let say, when Victor sends a drawing that reminds me about another drawing, and another, and together they make a coherent post. And usually it doesn't take long to wait for inspiration. 

Lately, though, Victor almost doesn't send anything. Why? There are more important issues on his mind now: how to survive. How to survive economically: because of political instability in Ukraine, his publishing company goes through difficult time. How to survive physically: after the last cycle of radiotherapy, there was a short period when we thought it was the happy end. But then his knee started hurting again; the latest diagnostics showed relapse and the urgent need for more treatment. My recent attempts to collect more money for his radiotherapy were unsuccessful. Ironically, a few people who generously sent money this time, were the repeating donors, my former students. 

So with the worst mood ever, I just knew I needed to post something. So without tying them together, I am just posting Victor's last several drawings - or rather the last four I received from him. Well, this will be the connecting idea: they have all been made within the last month. 

The first drawing is clearly about Prometheus. I received it today and got really scared and upset. It seems very personal to me, especially at this difficult time in Victor's life... I hope other people will also be able to feel this pain and respond...

"Waiting for Pain"

"Ожидание Боли"

Maybe I see in his works what is not really there. But having known Victor for 33 years I read behind lines - sometimes, at least. The following drawing, as I see it, is about the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that already claimed dozens of lives. 

"Fratricide"

"Братоубийство"

After these two tragic themes, it's nice to have the next two drawings. 

"Mother and Daughter"

"Мать и Дочь"

"The Forest Song"

"Лесная Песня"

Help!

I gave Victor hope, and I feel responsible. He is my friend and a talented artist. But I cannot afford this myself. So I revived my fundraiser. Either you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print of his drawing - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife         and

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

81. Exploring Cubism

Usually when I select material for the next post, I just browse a folder of Victor's drawings (or photographs), usually starting from the most recent and going back in time, until some repeating idea, element, or theme clicks in my head. This time, among recent drawings I noticed several made in cubist, or semi-cubist style. I am not sure Victor himself would agree with me, but this is how I see them. So this will be the thread for today's post. 

I didn't find many of them. Assuming I have a more or less representative sample of Victor's work (sorry for technical terms; I guess I am teaching too much Statistics), drawings in this style may only make 1% of it. Or maybe he doesn't send many of these to me, knowing my artistic tastes. 

Here they are, in reverse chronological order. Considering their nature, the titles are really useful... 

"Geisha"

"The Stone Heart"

"Madonna at Dusk"

"Circus Shapito"

"Minotaur"

"Torah"

That's about it... 

Last summer, Victor was diagnosed with sarcoma of the soft tissue of his right knee. There is no such thing as medical insurance in Ukraine, and the amount of money he needed would be incomprehensible for most Ukrainian residents. So in the Fall, I started a fund-raiser, and a miracle happened: thanks to many of my friends, relatives, colleagues and former students, I was able to raise $12,500 for his treatment. And the growth of his tumor has stopped!!! But he still needed $4,500 more for another series of radiotherapy. I didn't feel I could raise more money at that point, so I just sent this amount to him, and for a couple of months it seemed that it was a happy end.  

But a few days ago I learned that his knee started hurting again, and a preliminary analysis showed a local relapse. Just for the additional diagnostics (positron-emission tomography) he needs almost $2000. And I am even afraid to think about the cost of the treatment that will be necessary. 

I gave him hope, I and feel responsible. He is my friend and a talented artist. But I cannot afford this myself, I need help. So I am reviving my fundraiser. Either you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print of his drawing - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife         or

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

80. Spring - again!

Super busy, I almost missed this time of the year when I can post Victor's best photos of Spring, some new, some old. But this year, Spring starts so slowly and painfully, that they are still relevant.

Spring is the time of life when our hopes revive. Sometimes, these are hopes of survival...

Last summer, Victor was diagnosed with sarcoma of the soft tissue of his right knee. There is no such thing as medical insurance in Ukraine, and the amount of money he needed would be incomprehensible for most Ukrainian residents. So in the Fall, I started a fund-raiser, and a miracle happened: thanks to many of my friends, relatives, colleagues and former students, I was able to raise $12,500 for his treatment. And the growth of his tumor has stopped!!! But he still needed $4,500 more for another series of radiotherapy. I didn't feel I could raise more money at that point, so I just sent this amount to him, and for a couple of months it seemed that it was a happy end.  

But a few days ago I learned that his knee started hurting again, and a preliminary analysis showed a local relapse. Just for the additional diagnostics (positron-emission tomography) he needs almost $2000. And I am even afraid to think about the cost of the treatment that will be necessary. 

I gave him hope, I and feel responsible. He is my friend and a talented artist. But I cannot afford this myself, I need help. So I am reviving my fundraiser. Either you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print of his drawing - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife         or

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

These blue snowdrops (OK, they are not actually snowdrops, I checked, they are called "scilla") grow in the woods a few minutes from Victor's house, in the same woods I often walked in when I was a child living in Kharkov, Ukraine. I really missed them since I've moved to America. When I visited Kharkov a few years ago in April, the first thing on my plan was going to the woods. So the first morning after my arrival I did, and barely caught these flowers still in bloom. I even dug out a few bulbs to plant on my balcony next summer. They did grow, but did not look that impressive, to say the least.

But this photograph is fresh. 

 No stories for these pictures, but they are simply beautiful.

79. Crimea - either Russian or Ukrainian, but beautiful!

These days, when the whole world watches the events in Ukraine and, in particular,  in Crimea, it occurred to me that this place is so special for Victor (and me too), that I have to make a page about it. During my college years, I spent most of my school breaks there - after a week of hiking and/or spelunking in the mountains we would come down to the Black Sea a spend a day or two at the beach. Victor (before the last summer, of course) also went there a few times a year. I selected very few of his Crimean photographs that demonstrate his photographic skills as well as the beauty and variety of this region.

 

Last summer, Victor was diagnosed with sarcoma of the soft tissue of his right knee. There is no such thing as medical insurance in Ukraine, and these amounts of money are incomprehensible for most Ukrainian residents. So in the Fall, I started a fund-raiser, and a miracle happened: thanks to many of my friends, relatives, colleagues and former students, I was able to raise $12,500 for his treatment. And the growth of his tumor has stopped!!! He is at the last stage of his treatment, and he needs $4,500 more. 

Either you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Also, please spread this information.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009

As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to send you a print - see 

https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife 

or

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/victor-koryagin.html

The sign says: "Don't pick plants"

78. In the Style of...

Victor has never studied art, although he knows it and surely has his favorite artists. He never actually draws "in someone's style." But recently he had to. I've been trying to promote his work through Fine Art America (http://fineartamerica.com), and also using it to raise money for his cancer treatment. One artist who was impressed with Victor's art and sent a donation, asked if he can make custom drawings. I bragged "sure, he can," although I know how Victor dislikes, to put it mildly, to draw because "he has to." Since I have been offering to send Victor's work as a token of appreciation for people's donations, I asked this guy what he would like. But being an artist himself, he didn't ask anything obvious; he requested "something like Van Gogh's "Olive Trees."

I e-mailed his request to Victor and said he has to do it. I was very curious what he would come up with. He tried to find excuses like he doesn't paint, etc., but nevertheless took the challenge, and the next day he sent this:

Then I recalled that this has not been his first time that he drew in the style of some artist. In my bedroom there used to hang a painting by Russian artist, Yelena Flerova: 

 

But then for a certain reason I had to remove it, and I complained to Victor about the hole in the wall that remained after the painting. He responded in his unique way:

Recently Victor was diagnosed with sarcoma of the soft tissue of his knee. Until this shocking diagnosis he had thought for several years that it was arthritis. Now his cancer is in stage 3...

So far his treatment included several chemotherapy sessions and the surgery, for which he had borrowed $19,000. And now, thanks to many people - my friends, relatives, former students, and people who I don't know - we raised $12,500 so he could start radiotherapy. 

Victor still needs money for the follow-up treatment, analyses. There is no such thing as medical insurance in Ukraine. For majority of people there these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible.

Either you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. As a sign of gratitude, Victor and I would like to offer you a
unique opportunity (that I have been enjoying for free for many years!): tell the artist what's on your mind - any word, theme, even abstract concept, - and he most definitely has a drawing on this topic which he will send to you. More information on the Facebook page


https://www.facebook.com/GetMasterpieceSaveLife

Please, go to the link below and donate!!! And please share this information with anyone who can also help.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/an-artist-in-ukraine-fights-cancer-/102009