Cultural exchange - Magic Balchik
A Blog by Doina Maravela Moss, Artist and Architect RIBA, FRSA
Collaborator member of the Union of Plastic Artists Romania (Galati branch)
Active summer holidays are a style choice but for the busy architect who doesn’t have enough time to paint pressed by the compact schedule between the drawing board and the building sites, holidays are the best vehicle for compressing the time at double speed. The Covid pandemic put the travel on hold and with the lifting of the restrictions in August, I was finally able to travel to Romania.
Exploring new places, meeting friends and family are key to bringing new ideas of places to explore. This autumn I was invited by the curator Adina Moldova Titrea to take part in a group exhibition in Balchik - Bulgaria, as part of a Cultural Exchange between Romania and Bulgaria. I was thrilled to be part of this exhibition called “Magic Balchik”, with the preview on the 1st September. The exhibition was held at the main Art Museum in Balchik for 17 days and we all received beautiful Certificates of participation.
The connection to Balchik is the Queen Marie of Romania who envisaged an enchanting retreat on the Black Sea. Those days, Balchik was part of Romania and her court practically moved there with their architects, who built magnificent villas on the sea border, with a dramatic mountain backdrop. The Queen built a palace retreat at the bottom of the mountain, creating terraced gardens with walks through different zones, emulating different feelings. The palace became her Quiet Nest, her favourite retreat to contemplate the nature, the connecting powers of the sea with the panoramic vistas.
Taking advantage of our time at the exhibition, my friend Alexandra Teaca (architect and artist, art critic, Doctor in Architecture - the Confluence between Art and Architecture) and I decided to stay a few more days to absorb the scenery in tandem. We drove to Balchik with a car full of canvases, easels and all the equipment required for such endeavours. The weather was lovely and we went to the beach most mornings, swimming in the wonderful Black Sea. After lunch we set up painting camp in different locations. One day was dedicated to exploring the actual sites, choosing the best angles to paint from. We wanted to capture the essence of the place, to engage with the feelings the Queen may have experienced in that captivating location.
We produced 3 main oil paintings each during our 5 days holiday. Packing oil paintings is not an easy task but we managed to return to Bucharest with all the paintings intact.
From the steps of the art museum I immediately fell in love with the view towards the sea. We set up our easels on the balcony, on the first day of our painting session.
Exploring the Palace gardens to prioritise our final painting locations, we are happy to share a few highlights from the Botanical Gardens, to widen the context of our painting settings.
On our last day, we set up our easels in the rose gardens, were coincidentally, a wedding was taking place. We were delayed by this event but I wanted to incorporate this detail in my painting, capturing the romantic intention of it’s design, with an Alhambrian feel.
Going all the way to that remote location was an old dream of mine, triggered by my fascination with Queen Marie of Romania. It all started by going every year to Sinaia, where the main palace for the King and Queen is located.
Surrounded by the powerful Bucegi mountains, Peles castle takes your breath away. I always wanted to be able to paint this location and this summer I finally stayed a few days right on the grounds of the castle, in the garrison tower, now converted in a luxury hotel, facing the Castle. Joined by my parents, we explored and absorbed the views and the atmosphere.
I managed to paint two views of the castle and a watercolour sketch to study the complicated Arts and Crafts architecture.
To my autumn collection I added the paintings from Sinaia, constituting my new small capsule dedicated to exploring a connection with Queen Marie of Romania.
For those eager to explore the topic further, please follow the links.