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Greetings all!
It is with the greatest pleasure that I introduce to you talented Artist, Katerina Korolkevich-Rubbo (Born in Moscow on April 26, 1960.) who will relate something of her artistic journey – beginning with her earliest inspiration growing up in Russia. Married to Film-maker, Mike Rubbo, Katya (as we know her) thrives in the creative environment of a home full of vibrant paintings and artifacts – surrounded by the beautiful bush and beach of NSW’s Central Coast, north of Sydney.
Piano and paints are always “at the ready” for Katya and she is a gifted pianist who plays with great sensitivity. In visiting their home, one is aware of the combined sense of peace, joy and excitement that creativity can bring. You get the feeling of an underlying buzz – something creative always “on the boil” when in the presence of this artistic couple. Here is Katya enjoying drawing flowers…
In direct response to her environment, Katya’s appreciation of the gifts of nature is evident in her delightfully pure watercolours.
Let us first have a look at some of her paintings…then we will follow with husband, Mike’s very interesting interview with her…
Above: “November Lilies”
Now, let’s take a walk along Avoca Beach with Katya, from south to north, as she records her impressions in paint…
“Avoca Beach (the rocks)”
“Avoca Beach (middle of)”
“North Avoca”
I think you will agree that katya has an eye for capturing the essential in minimalist style with her use of beautifully transparent watercolours. If you have ever dabbled in art, you will realise that this is something deceptively difficult to achieve.
“Dancing Camelias”
“Easter Lilies”
“The cat is lying on the sun”
“Peach Blossom”
“Table in my kitchen”
Thank you Katya, for those lovely glimpses of your work. Now let’s go to Mike’s interview to learn more about you!
July 2008 *************************************************
Mike: “Katya, now you have to tell me how did you start painting?”
Katya: “I started painting in my young years. I was growing up in Moscow in a city full of history and art and I guess I took everything for granted around me - hardly noticing grand columns, powerful bronze horsemen and festive fountains.”
Mike: “You had access to a lot of art when you were young…”
Katya: “Yes. Everything was steeping in history and art. As I remember nobody would stop and say ‘What an amazing building it is!’ Nobody was admiring buildings unless they were tourists.”
Mike: “Do you remember what painting in particular had an effect on you? Some early paintings you remember?”
Katya: “There was not one painting. There were visits to the gallery. Realistic paintings…”
Mike: “What? Snow scenes…?”
Katya: “18th, 19th century. There would be portraits of some aristocrats, or landscapes, scenes with peasants etc.”
Mike: “What artist had an impact on you?”
Katya: “Many artists and among them were Repin, Savrasov, Levitan, etc. They had an impact on me.”
Mike: “What did you like about Repin?”
Katya: “His drawing style, full of detail expressing character – he really would get into a personality…”
Mike: “And what about the content of his paintings? What did you like about his subject matter?”
Katya: “He would put people and nature in some sort of a correlation.”
Mike: “Was he a social commentator in some way?”
Katya: “He was, but not in an extravagant way. Painters at that time would portray wealthy or poor people realistically but without making comments. You would just feel pity for a child dressed in rags or see aristocrats sitting on a high chair with a background full of statues and amazing draperies. What attracted me most is that I did not know anything about this…”
Mike laughs…
Katya: “So there was a kind of silence that constantly accompanies your visit to the gallery. I like that.”
Mike: “Maybe that was your church…”
Katya: “No. I was not religious.”
MIke: “That was a replacement of church…”
Katya: “No, not sure. I think it gives you an opportunity of exploring yourself without being told what to do. And unless you have a guided tour you can do whatever you like. You can go to contemporary, classic or ancient art and spend time there.
That was a striking moment! I could stop in front of a painting and find my own interpretation of it or emotional involvement. I remember one particular painting by Levitan “March”. When you look at it you see a horse standing in the yard near the log house and the forest nearby. The artist captures the snow, slowly melting under the rays of the sun. When you look at this painting you could feel the smell of the melting snow. It is absolutely incredible.”
Mike: “Who was the artist?”
Katya: “Levitan and the painting is called ‘March’. This is one of my favourites. and here it is!”
Katya: “We have a number of extraordinary painters and the Russian school of art is one of the best. I always felt sorry I could not pursue art as a profession.”
Mike: “You loved realistic art.”
Katya: “I admire abstract art but I think I have to understand what the artist wants to say. Just a splash of colour would not interest me very much.”
Mike: “Did you have access to paints in Russia?”
Katya: “Oh, yes. There was not a big variety of paints. You definitely could get watercolours, temperas…I found out that the St. Petersburg watercolours are some of the best watercolours in the world as they are produced with real pigments. Good brushes made from squirrel … and you could buy them really cheaply.”
Mike: “Do you remember your first images that you did?”
Katya: “I did a bit of copying I would say. I looked at faces and tried to get the same expression or did drawings from imagination. I wanted to copy the gesture.”
Mike: “Did anybody encourage you?”
Katya: “Yes. My mum and dad encouraged me to do it. They looked at it as a way of passing my time. Once when I was 10 I did a drawing completely from my imagination of some French women dancers. I had this idea of some beautiful women in fine clothes dancing. How on earth I came to this idea I do not know and I did not see Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings.
A family friend, Konstantin Glagolev saw my drawings and said he would like to take them to show to an artist friend. In a couple of weeks he brought the paintings back and said that he showed my drawing to the artist and the artist’s opinion was that I expressed a lot of movement in my drawings. I think it was an encouragement for me to continue.”
Mike: “Was it your only piece of expert encouragement?”
Katya: “No. I had another friend – a book illustrator. I still have her as a friend, a lovely woman, Tanya Gnisyuk. She always would encourage me to paint. She would say ‘Just do some painting’. She will give me a small wooden board in a hardware store and say ‘You can paint what you like. It can be a fantasy or you could look at something like flowers’. She showed me reproductions of some Russian folk art. That is how I got the idea. I still have my first cheese board that I painted at Tanya’s home which represents a vase with stalks of wheat and Chinese lantern flowers in it.”
Mike: “Wow!…”
Katya: “Yes! Here it is!”
Above: Tanya Gnisyuk at home with her collection of cheeseboards (and how about that gorgeous pie on the table!) She is holding a photograph of Katya’s first watercolour painting. Here is a closer look at it. What a delicate rendition of lilies and it seems from more recent paintings above, Katya still maintains her love for these elegant flowers…
Mike: “So her guidance of you continued for many years.”
Katya: “For many years. I remember her being encouraging, very warm, without pushing any line. She would say ‘Do whatever you like’. I would come to her house often. Many people would come and go in her house as her husband was a photographer. It was an open house. I loved being there. People would come and look and say ‘This is nice what you are doing’ ”
Mike: “Did you have any friends of your own age who would paint?”
Katya: “Unfortunately not. I went to study physics and languages and there was nobody around me interested in art. I got support from my mum.
I have to explain that there were no free venues for artists in the Soviet era to display one’s work. There were exhibitions only for artists who were part of the artists union supervised by the state. There was no freedom of expressing yourself. Poor artists could not sell their work – could not show it to anybody. When perestroika happened I must admit there was a rapid change in freeing of the arts.
The first sign of this was a Vernissage – an exhibiton of art and craft in the park in Moscow. I guess it is like Montmartre. So in Moscow it is the Arbat street. It was so extraordinary that little freedom that artists gained.”
Mike: “When was that?”
Katya: “1985. So you come out and you see people painting, somebody talking, tourists buying things. It was absolutely beautiful. My mum brought me there and since then I would go regularly to Vernissage. I made good friends there. An artist offered to paint my portrait. He did a quick pastel drawing capturing my character I think. I still have this drawing. The artist’s name is Sergei Arto.
Mike: “You did not do any art at school?”
Katya: “Yes, I did. I had a teacher OlgaIvanovna from year 5. She loved my work and she gave a lot of tasks as she knew I could do really well.”
Mike: “Was there any pressure to do propaganda art?”
Katya: “It is a very interesting question. I felt that pressure. There was one task in particular when I was summoned to the blackboard with another student to do a poster for the Labour Day. There was a competition and it was unpleasant. I lost it as I did not draw the hammer and the sickle in the right way.”
Mike laughs… “You did not remember which way the hammer and sickle are turned?”
Katya: “No. I made a mistake”
Mike: “You were not paying much attention in your life to it.”
Katya: “No. Because I did not like this symbolism. False symbolism. The teacher said to me: I will still put ‘excellent’ for the term but you failed this competition. Finally that was my farewell with propaganda. I realised I would never participate in any propaganda art.”
Mike: “Did you feel cheated in any way?”
Katya: “Yes. In a way. The other girl chose a simple thing. She did dots, stars and balloons. We were 10 at the time. I tried to make it symbolic and it was too hard for me.”
Mike: Did you say to the teacher it was not fair as he other girl did not do propaganda?”
Katya: “No. I did not say anything. I was just unhappy.”
Mike: “That nasty experience…what effect did it have on what you wanted to paint in the future?”
Katya: “I realised that I did not want to participate in any propaganda, anything artificial reinforced by state. We were surrounded by socialist realism everythere. I just loved nature, observing animals. I wanted to do something soft and unthreatening. I still loved portraiture but not painted in socialist realism where things are pushed onto you. That put me off straight away.”
Mike: “Not the strong worker…”
Katya: “Yes. That’s right.”
Mike: “You also went towards romantic.”
Katya: “Yes. A sense of nature, poetic description of villages, run down churches and things like that. That was my interest.”
Mike: “Did you see any modern art, abstractions, and big works like Jackson Pollock’s paintings?”
Katya: “As a matter of fact we did not. What happened in 60s I think Khrushchev criticised painters for exploring new abstract ideas, new wave of avant garde, extraordinary new shapes and forms. So the government discouraged artists to explore those venues while underground artists continued but there were no public shows of explorative ideas. No way. Everything was socialist realism from top to the bottom. In a way everything was quite realist: a still life, a view from the window, or a top official in the uniform. I did not see much abstract at all. The artists had to earn their living so they would paint realism whether they wanted or not.
Mike: “It’s a big interview here. You think it’s enough?”
Katya: “I think so”.
**************************************************
Thank you Mike and Katya for that in depth, interesting insight. It is so interesting to look back and see the cause and effect at work in our lives isn’t it – what we do shaped not only by our environment, but our response to it.
Should you wish to contact Mike and Katya, please feel free to do so via email: katerina.rubbo@aapt.net.au
Cheers everyone and I hope you are continuing to enjoy this website.
Don’t forget, you are welcome to leave comments or offer contributions, complete with photos at any time.
