My Etsy Shop

Hey everyone! This is just to brag a bit at the fact that my Esty shop is now live at http://www.etsy.com/shop/kosebose. Right now there are only five items, but there are more coming soon, in fact as soon as the end of this week. I have matted and photographed some of my larger oil abstracts, and I plan on uploading them to the store by the end of this week if all goes well and I can spare some time from Financial Management and Business Strategy assignments.

Here is a sneak peak at my upcoming works for sale:

Photos for Surva Festival of Masquerade Games in Pernik

Way back in 2011 when I was blissfully schoolwork-free and going to photography classes I went to the annual Surva International Festival of Masquerade Games in the nearby town of Pernik, and I wrote about it here.  This event is truly one of the coolest and craziest festivals happening in Bulgaria, and now that I have a car and I am actually not terrified of driving, I could drive my cousin Tsveti and myself to this year's celebrations over the weekend. 

Bulgaria has a rich folklore tradition, which is incredibly interesting, quite varied for such a small country and also filled with fairly tale creatures that rival some of the best fantasy series out there. One of the most famous customs, apart from the live ember walking  nestinari, is related to the kukeri, people dressed up as scary monsters and making an insane amount of noise with the huge bells on their costumes so as to chase away evil spirits and usher in the new season of prosperity and happiness. Depending on the region, the kukeri look different - some have many heads, some are literally covered in bells, some have masks the size of a person, some are all covered in feathers, others in sheep skin or horse hair, and yet others have goat horns and painted faces. Their purpose, though, is one and the same: to scare away sickness and bad luck and bring in health and a good crop. 

Nowadays the festival is not just for the kukeri, even if such groups are predominant. Today the festival features masquerade groups from all over the world that bring their own unique costumes and customs to the event, making it a tapestry of cultures and traditions. There are also groups that are more modern in their costumes or have a decidedly humorous twist, like that one group of people that included a bunch of guys dressed up as doctors who would "kidnap" people from the audience and put them down on a gurney, spraying the local grape alcohol rakia in their mouths from a toy syringe as an "anesthetic." And since I got my hands on a badge that allowed me access to the roped in area where the parade of masquerade groups was passing, I was one of the lucky (or not, depends on your point of view and your  taste in rakia) girls kidnapped and put on the gurney. That was quite a laugh, let me tell you. 

Their vibrant colors, the richness of the textures and variety of materials used in making the costumes make the kukeri a dream to photograph. This is the third year I have attended the festival, and it never disappoints. It's so much fun to see all the costumes, all the people laughing and dancing, and all the adorable little kids dressed like kukeri.  This year I went a bit earlier during the day, and that was a great decision, because it was pouring down rain in the afternoon in Sofia. Here are some of the photos I took of the event, while I enjoyed my insider pass :)

New Abstract Paintings

I am finally getting around to setting up an Etsy shop, and since I wanted to keep my existing body of work intact in the hope that I will organize an art show at some point this year or next year, I painted five new abstracts specifically for my Etsy shop. I have some stuff to read from the Etsy seller handbook before I list the items, just so that I can make sure that I know everything that I need to know about setting up the item, pricing and handling payments, but I hope I can go live by the end of this coming week.
Here is a sneak peak at two of my new abstracts that would actually make a nice pair if bought together.

 

Fashion Installation by Nuri Dimitrova

Tonight I had the pleasure of going to a very interesting fashion event by designer Nuri Dimitrova and Elena Filipcheva as the project's curator. Not really a fashion show but more of a fashion installation, the evening involved beautiful special occasiom dresses, gorgeously artsy hats and headpieces, and models posed like statues from a different time, coming down their pedestals from time to time to mingle with the decidedly modern crowd. The venue was appropriate; the ornate architectural details of the National Gallery of Art and big ornamental mirrors were the perfect backdrop for this surreal fairy tale. Nature sounds like birds chirping or waves crashing on the shore were the soundtrack of this show, bringing the crowd into something of an enchanted forest or fairy mansion. Had the lighting been lower, we would have been part of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Of course, I'm sure everyone would have taken out their smartphone and ordered a cab or turned on their flashlight app to navigate their way out of the dark forest, so our fairy tale's audience was trendy, current and yielding high-tech gadgets.

I have to say I liked the white dresses a lot; I enjoy beautiful relief ornamentation when it comes to wedding gowns. You can look at some of the details I photographed below. I was quite bummed that I didn't have my camera with me, and I has to settle for trying to squeeze OK looking photos out of my cell phone. I also particularly enjoyed the hats. Those were completely dazzling and decadently lavish. I would love to wear one for some occasion, even if it is a costume ball.

Winter Decorations

I admit it. I love my Christmas decorations - the tree, the silver, white and gold ornaments, the snowflake-shaped lights, the wrath, my angel figurines...Most of the people I know took down their holiday decorations weeks ago, right after the new year rolled around. Not me, uh-uh. I still have my tree up in all of its glory.

The truth is that Christmas is probably my favorite holiday, and I always think of it as a time of being home, connecting with your loved ones, treating yourself to great food, listening to carols, and opening presents. It's hard letting go of the remnants of the holiday spirit in my life each January, simply because I would like to prolong the holidays as much as I can, at least in my mind. I am sappy like that.

The end of January is nearing, though, so whether I want it or not, I would have to take down the tree. I will keep my holiday wrath that I put on the table each year, as it gives my house a wintery look. Each spring I replace it with a spring wrath, but until that season rolls around, I will enjoy my pine cones, red berries and dried thistles.

 
Also, take a peak at some of my bird ornaments. I've gotten a bit obsessed with the birds in the past few years: what they symbolize, their imagery, how they pertain to my nickname and the name of this blog kosebose, how the fly in the sky...My bedroom was is pained with the silhouettes of birds flying, which you can see here, I did two twin paintings of flying birds for the living room,  and I have bird ornaments on my tree. It's great.

 

 

Winter Wonderland Part 2: South Park in Sofia

This morning we woke up and it was snowing in that wonderful light and fluffy way that makes each separate tree branch white, and everything looks like it has come out of one of those magical looking Christmas cards. I had an appointment and some errands to run in the morning, but then around noon I took a walk in the South Park in Sofia with my camera. It was so beautiful! I don't think I've taken a walk in the park in the winter probably since I was a kid, so I got to rediscover, or maybe discover for the first time the beauty of it today. It was all quiet because of the snow, even though there were people strolling and kids playing and sleighing, and it was surprisingly not freezing at all, so the walk was quite amazing! It was a great opportunity to take some photos of winter landscapes, which is not something I do very often. I'm not a fan of the cold, you see :)