Among Kasia’s paintings are some which one would not immediately connect with fantasy. However because the composition of some elements cannot be found in the real world, these paintings bring to mind thoughts about surrealism. An example of such a work is Panta Rhei – fairly economical in form, it depicts a seaside landscape with a flying Pelican, projecting a shadow on the sand and there are also wide open doors hanging over the beach. Such paintings show restlessness and tension very clearly; which could be caused by the diversity and variety of the possibile associations which every observer can find inside oneself, dependent upon ones own experience and sensitivity.  (From a review by Karolina Jablonska, art curator and art historian)

Farewell Panta Rhei – Nothing is forever.

Panta Rhei - oil on board; 1997

I have created a new installation in the garden. It is about my insomnia. I got the inspiration from my own problems with sleeping and from a book I received from my 'art fan' in Brussels. If he is reading this post, he will be happy to know that I found the publication about Narcolepsy very educational and interesting.

Here is a photo of the installation:

Insomnia - Narcolepsy - Installation 2011 by Kasia B.T.

I am starting to think about my dream to make it as an artist as something very irrational, utopian and pathetic. Who needs art, who needs my art? If you have finished an art academy and if you don't "make it" within the next three years then you will never make it. The talent, ideas, originality, whatever it is of no importance after that. It is just the significance to being discovered by a very important art dealer and some luck. Then the marketing machine will start to work for you. Otherwise it will not.

Here are a few images of my work in progress:

Landscape in gold and blue

A bird in colours of Devon

The Gravitation of the Clown - painting in progress

We are born alone, we die alone together

It takes place at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, Stocker Road, EX4 4QB between 2-9 PM. There will be speeches at 3pm, followed later by entertainment and of course the artist demonstrations. Several artists will present their art works, and one of them will be me. Refreshments will also be available. It's a great space, and we hope (the artists and the DOS organisation) it will be a great day, too. The studios themselves are open from 10 AM on Saturday 3rd for two weeks.
In an article about Devon Open Studios 2011 The Independent said:

Worlds away from the enormous price tags of London's Cork Street, or the glossy modernism of the Frieze Art Fair in Regent's Park, London, Devon Open Studios offers visitors the rare privilege of viewing art in the context of where and how it is made. And, should you feel like buying something, you're unlikely to have to re-mortgage your house to do so.

The county has long captivated artists with its dramatic landscapes. Local institutions such as the Cider Press Centre near Dartington, the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey and the Plymouth Arts Centre have long provided visitors with the edited highlights of Devon's artistic life. But creative types are now keen to show their work on their own terms, hence the burgeoning success of the Open Studios project.

Now in its seventh year, the event has grown inexorably from a handful of artists showing work in their garages and living rooms to a well-organised trail. Weavers, potters, glassblowers, photographers, printmakers, sculptors, jewellers, quilt-makers and wood-turners are all more than happy to explain their practices to visitors for a fortnight, over tea. The event costs nothing to the visitor and there is no prescribed route. The best bet is to pick through the brochure to see whose artwork appeals and just turn up on their doorstep.

The invitation to the Launch of Devon Open Studios 2011

Devon Open Studios 2011 also has its own channel on YouTube. Here's Greg Ramsden talking about "Discipline in Painting":

I met Greg a year ago at the South West Contemporary Art Fair in Totnes. He is a very nice person but also a brilliant painter, I have to admit it.

Kasia in the Countryside

My new series is about the trees “The Tree tales”. The trees from my paintings are telling stories: sad, cheerful, dramatic, funny, horrible, disgusting, beautiful…sometimes real, sometimes surreal, and sometimes fantastic……conform our lives, lies, black swans and quantum physics.

Yes, I am back into the figurative style. I never painted trees before because I found them so perfect in reality that every copied image looked very kitschy to me. It is a fact, that nature in its essence is perfect; most of the landscape paintings, that are trying to copy nature, are only a bad imitations of it.  The most important aspect is to make an own interpretation of the subject and add also personal emotions into it.

So, what changed my mind, why this Tree Series?  The most important aspect is being very close to nature, being surrounded by an incredible beautiful landscape,  and observing  the  structure of the nature every day. Another aspect is my different approach to painting the nature. I don’t just paint the trees, my trees are the context of my work and the subject of it, both.

And most important, my trees are telling stories…and if you listen very carefully you can hear them.  Most of us are living in an urban environment, in big cities, far away from forests, woodlands and trees.  Most of us aren’t surrounded by ageing, ancient oaks, aches, elms, birches, maples, English yews and all the other distinguished, sometimes frivolous beautiful trees. I am just giving back; I am very fortunate to live in Devon, surrounded by beautiful, often very old trees.

My favourite tree is the oak. It looks like an old, wise Knight, or maybe a transcendental Wizard with its gnarled branches.  My oak, is a very old one from Dunchideock.  It is telling a story about ancient battles, lovers trysts and quarrels.  Everything is in there if you pause long enough to tune in to this magnificent time portal.

"My Friend Oak is telling a story, again" – acrylics on canvas, 2010

What are the inspirations for my new work?. Definitely the colours and the sounds of the garden of Lyalls Cottage and the fields and meadows around Dunchideock, of Devon; the animals in and around the garden; the hills behind the river Exe in the East and de shapes of Exmoor in the North, the shooting stars at the cloudless sky in the night and all the others inexpressible sensational impulses and invisible mystical creatures.

I am so happy to be here, Devon is a wonderful spot to live!

Here are the images of my new collages and installations. I will make a separate post about the sculptures.

collage canvas prints

And see me now! I don’t even want to think about living 24 hours, 30 days per months, even 12 months per year in Amsterdam, Vienna or London.  I am just perfectly happy here, even if it rains cats and dogs almost for a month. I am just happy, simply happy, audaciously happy. I am happy because I can be, watch, see, breath, absorb, take up and feel delighted by the nature around me.

Dunchideock, the garden of Lyalls Cottage, the nature of South Devon are the inspiration of my new paintings. The new paintings are combination of my observation of the surrounding nature, my imagination, the happiness of creation, painting, experimenting, and transforming that which surrounds me and how I experience it.

Here are a few of the new acrylic paintings from my series ‘The Secret Garden of Lyalls Cottage’ and “The Shadow of the Invisible in Dunchideock”.

It is raining in Red in Dunchideock - by Kasia B. Turajczyk; 50,2 cm x 40,8 cm; from the series The Secret Garden of Lyalls Cottage

The Tree in the Secret Garden - Kasia B. Turajczyk; 50,8 cm x40,2 cm; from the series The Secret Garden of Lyalls Cottage

The night has fallen down in Dunchideock II by Kasia B. Turajczyk 50,8 x 40,2 cm; From the series "Shadow of the invisable"

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