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

77. Hieroglyphs

Several drawings posted below definitely stand on their own. Victor sent them to me at different times and different occasions. He may have more of these. "These" - I am not even sure how to refer to them. It looks like he has created his own alphabet and sending some kind of messages - to whom? about what?

"Letters"

"Письмена"

The one below I received a couple of years ago when I took a ceramics course and begged Victor to help me with ideas for making tiles. I needed 4, but it turns out that he had 49! (See my post #20 for more).

"My Animals"

"Мои Звери"

"Message"

"Послание"

"A Love Letter"

"Объяснение в Любви"

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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance. I already collected $7,800, but we are running out of time, and it seems that I have exhausted my list of potential supporters.

Still, 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

76. More about angels.

I have already posted at least two pages about angles in the past 2.5 years. And within the last  couple of months, more and more angels made their way from Victor's desk (actually, he usually draws on his laps sitting on his sofa-bed), through his scanner and through e-mail  to my computer and now to this blog. This is especially strange because Victor is not at all religious. But I have given up a long time ago to understand why he draws this or that. As he told me once, "It is not me who made them up; it’s someone else inside me, so I am not responsible for their content or their form or anything else."

I have also always been curious: how does Victor name his drawings? All I knew he usually doesn't give them names when he makes them, only when he sends them to me. This following drawing he sent to me twice. He drew it in April and entitled "Thinking Angel." This was before his dreadful diagnosis. Then I received it again in December, this time under the title "To Make a Decision." I find it very interesting that depending on the circumstances he himself sees his drawings in different light.

 

 

 

"Задумавшийся ангел"

"Принять Решение"

 

 

At about the same time he sent this to me. Victor has never asked me to help him collect the money for his cancer treatment. But I urgently started the fundraiser after looking at this and several similar images. For an artist, his work is his way of communicating...

 

 

 

  

 



 

 

"All Flights Cancelled"

"Нелетная Погода"

 

 

Few more angels that follow look somewhat more optimistic. Victor drew and sent them to me very recently. At this time, my fundraiser brought a larger portion of the amount that he needed for treatment, although when I started it, he really didn't believe it would work.

 

Living thousands miles away and having a limited knowledge what is really going on there with him, I realize that my perception of his work is probably over-simplified. But I am presenting from my point of view (and actually, he never complained - maybe just because his English is not too good. Oh well...)

      

 

 

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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance. I already collected $7,50, but we are running out of time, and it seems that I have exhausted my list of potential supporters.

Still, 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

 

 

 

75. Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance. I already collected $7,000, but we are running out of time.
 

Either  you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. 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.
.

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

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

74. Join the Game and Help the Artist!

For the last few years Victor and I played a "game;" I told about it in my earlier blog entries. It started when we were talking on Skype about something, and he said that he had a drawing about it. Then next day it happened again, so I said, half-jokingly: "You probably have a drawing on any topic." He took it as a challenge, and since then almost every day I would give him a word, a theme, an idea almost, and he would send me an illustration. He also said that if he didn't have a drawing on a particular topic, he would draw one, but so far this has happened only a few times.

 

Now, when I've been trying to use Victor's art to encourage people to donate money for his cancer treatment, I am inviting everyone "play" with us. This is what my generous donors have ordered in the last few days:

 

My colleague's request was: "A Nest." A strange request, isn't it? But it worked for me: I didn't even have to ask Victor about this, I have two nests among my couple hundreds of his drawings:

 

 

 

 

"Помощь в Гнездовании"

 

 

 

Then a former student gave me a challenging, but interesting task: "Infinity." I had to ask Victor about it, and he sent this to me. What could be a better match?

 

 

 

"Бесконечность"



 

 

 

And another former student requested "Digital Natives," which is the name of his Internet company. Of course, I had to translate it to Russian, and surprisingly, Victor found this illustration as well among his 4,000 + drawings.

 

 

"Цифровое Поколение"

 

 

Join our game and help the artist!

 

 

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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance. I already collected $6,000, but we are running out of time.
 

Either  you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. 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.
.

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

73. Recent Drawings

 

Usually - for more than two years I have been doing this blog - I make my posts by selecting Victor's drawings on a certain topic (Dreams of Flight, Old Testament, Monsters, Fish, How to Draw Emotions etc.), or demonstrating a certain feature (A Few Simple Lines) or genres (Portraits, Still Life). But in this post I just want to show several of his most recent drawings. I have never understood how and why he decides to draw something in particular at a certain moment. In fact, he'd said he didn't understand it either. But at this really difficult period of his life, when he is fighting cancer, it's even more mind-boggling: what images and ideas visit his brain? what does he want to tell? By the way, Victor never draws to tell something to anyone but himself. This much I know...

 

But before you enjoy his drawings, please read this:

 

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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance.

Either  you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. 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.
.

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

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

   

 

 

 

"All Flights are cancelled..."

"Нелетная Погода" 

 

 

"The Red Flower"

 "Красный Цветок"

 

 

 

 

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

"Невыносимая Легкость Бытия"

 

 

 

"Listening to the music by Valery Dedula"

"В изгнании молчит о тайне"

 

 

 

 

 

72. The Fall - Part 2.

When Victor drew his wounded eagle several years ago, who could have thought that one day I will use it to introduce my campaign to raise money for his treatment??? And when I started this blog more than two years ago, could I have thought that I would be using it as a venue to ask for help?

This summer a tumor was found in soft tissue of his right knee, and in October he was diagnosed with sarcoma. 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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance.

Either  you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. As a sign of gratitude, I would be happy to send you a quality print of any of Victor's drawings of your choice - please provide your mailing address.

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

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

 

I continue with the seasonal selection. This Fall, obviously not in the best of his mood, Victor took these amazing photos that made me wonder: are the paddles of water and the leaves near his place in Ukraine are really much more beautiful than the ones I pass by every day?

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

71. The Fall...

When Victor drew his wounded eagle several years ago, who could have thought that one day I will use it to introduce my campaign to raise money for his treatment??? And when I started this blog more than two years ago, could I have thought that I would be using it as a venue to ask for help?

 

This summer a tumor was found in soft tissue of his right knee, and in October he was diagnosed with sarcoma. 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, but now he needs  at least $11,000 to start radiotherapy, ASAP. For majority of Ukrainian people these amounts of money are simply incomprehensible, and there is no such thing as medical insurance.

 

Either  you are a faithful reader of my blog, or you ended up here just once, by mistake - please contribute whatever you can. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. As a sign of gratitude, I would be happy to send you a quality print of any of Victor's drawings of your choice - please provide your mailing address.

 

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

 

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

 

My selection for this post is purely seasonal. I picked my favorite Victor's drawings about Fall, some of them might have been posted here before, but it was a year or two back...

 

 

"Coloring the Fall"

"Раскрашивание Осени"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"She is from the Autumn, He is from the Sea"

"Она из Осени, Он из Моря"

 

 

 

 

"Foliage"

"Листопад"



 

 

"Прекрасный Принц"

"Prince Charming"

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The Study of Apples"

"Яблоки"

"The Last Day of the Fall"

"Последний День Осени"

 

 

 

70. My Friend, The Artist Needs YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!

When Victor drew his wounded eagle several years ago, who could have thought that one day I will use it to introduce my campaign to raise money for his treatment??? And when I started this blog more than two years ago, could I have thought that I would be using it as a venue to ask for help?

 

This summer a tumor was found in soft tissue of his right knee, and in October he was diagnosed with sarcoma. 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, but now he needs to start radiotherapy. He has already borrowed about $19,000, but needs at least $11,000 more for immediate treatment, and no one can tell what will be needed after this. For majority of Ukrainian people 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. Victor really doesn't believe that it is possible to raise such an amount, but I believe that together we can make a difference. As a sign of gratitude, I would be happy to send you a quality print of any of Victor's drawings of your choice - please provide your mailing address.

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

And these are a couple of his very recent drawings... - no comments needed.

 

 

 

69. Still Life

With some surprise I found out, that there is one genre of Victor's art that I haven't explored yet: still life. It is not very common, but looking through all of his drawings that I have, I found quite a few - enough for two posts, perhaps. They don't require any comments - except the last one, probably, but I can't really say much about it, except that it may not even qualify as "still life" - after all, it's a portrait!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Rafaelina"