Short Biography
The European – Baltic Artist Tatyana Palchuk
Tatyana Palchuk was born 1954.and has been living all her life in Riga, in a small area between the Art Academy and Elizabeth Street. Already during the kindergarten teachers predicted the little drawer an artist’s destiny. Although, nobody was connected to arts in the family, she was constantly drawing in sand with a stick in hands. Tatyana lost her relatives in soviets Stalins represions ( She have Ukrainian Dona’s Kozaks , Russian ,Hebrew roots) , and father at an early age and has been growing independently as other afterwar 50ies – 60ies kids, and she was the eternal engine and captain for the yard kids. Tatyana enrolled Rozentals Art School by herself even not informing her mum. The artist tells that becoming an artist was not as easy for her and she had drawn on to the level of the more talented school and academy members, in her opinion, only by thorough and accurate work.
Her teachers are indisputable stars of Latvia and Europe Art – Imants Vecozols, Pēteris Postažs, Boriss Bērziņš, Edgars Iltners and academic Eduards Kalniņš. She has been among the few who have done the Masters course with the Academic of USSR Academie of Arts Eduards Kalniņš. Tatyana is proud to have had the honour and uncommon luck to visit and grow artistically at the academic’s home, studio , and also meet Masters visits at her small studio of only 12m2 in Elizabeth Street apartment. The experience and knowhow given by these art grands has been invaluable and it has helped Tatyana to grow the one and brilliant art figure, which she has become.
Tatyana living quite a secluded self-centered life of an artist. Therefore she can’t be spotted at any parties, exhibitions, and other events so typical in the world of arts. Tatyana doesn’t attend contemporary art exhibitions and she finds her inspiration going to Europe culture centers rejoicing in Renaissance, Hollandaise, Italian, and other world treasure artworks at famous galleries and museums. One of her favourite art museums is Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, which she tends to visit so every year. Tatyana’s motto is that nothing new hasn’t been invented but it has already existed, and a Human is only a small part of the macrocosm breathing harmoniously around us with the microcosm inside itself, which is possibly as infinite. She is to no extent affected by modern trends and loud attempts to draw attention to herself. The main characteristics of her works are positivism, humanism and harmony with the united world. They have been drawn in an excellent painting technique and mixing modern and ancient – a manner characteristic only for this artist. No doubt it is psychologically a quite difficult road, always to be a bit of a stranger among peers. But there are a great many Tatyana’s art admirers scattered all around the world.
Her works are in collections in many world countries, likewise in repositories of the Russian Art Union and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. During the peak years of creativity, Tatyana had excellent success at international competitions and art markets ( last time, sells in the Top 15, Ravenel Auction House and Hessinks ). Last years significant exhibition was participation at international painting exhibitions in New York, Rome, Palermo, Antwerpen, Spain, Denmark, Deutschland, Taiwan, Czech and other world art centers.
Peteris Rikans – Artists Agent, Collector Peteris Rikans conversation with Fine Art Master
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? And your first experience in art making?
I have been lucky. All my life I have been doing the work that I truly love. I don’t start my day by realizing that I have to attend to the work I don’t love, but I begin it by having a feeling of happiness to have the work I love and can go on by doing a deed that gives me joy and satisfaction. I am certain that only by loving the deed you do, in my case it is painting, it is possible to create something truly valuable and beautiful. Of course it refers to any profession.
As the majority, as a child I loved drawing very much. However, there was one important thing. In an incomprehensible manner I was absolutely sure that I want to have ability to draw. I was clearly certain of that and I remember it very precisely.
Therefore at the age of 11 I made my decision to enter the Art School (meant for the 5th-grade pupils and situated only 100 meters from my living place). Their children could obtain an art education in parallel with their studies in comprehensive schools.
I was 9 years old when my father died and during the hard post-war years, my mother had to raise me and my elderly sister all by herself. Mother didn’t object and using the scarce resources she bought a drawing album, color paints, pencils, and brushes. That was an indescribable feeling of happiness when we were going home from the shop and having all the goods in the bag. It was mom’s support. All the rest was accomplished by me.I collected all the necessary documents and certificates to enter the school. I also attended the training classes and examinations all by myself while other children were accompanied by their parents. My mother had to work and therefore she had no extra time for the children. I had absolute freedom to make my choices at that time. And then there happened a miracle. I, a child orphan from the poorest grounds, was enlisted .11 out of 75 children were enlisted. That was the first very important step into my field of art.
I remember I realized then that something important was going to happen and my life was going to change for good and a new one was coming instead of it. I even remember the clothes I had going to pass my last examination, my mom to her working place, and the little, big daughter to the art school.
It seems so long ago. Afterward, there was the Academy of Art, then the USSR ART Academy Master Class, and finally, the second title MA (Master of Arts) was defended already during the years of the re-established Independent Republic of Latvia in 2003. In general, my artist’s school has lasted for 18 years. And I‘m still learning – and I am going to do it all my life.
But I will never forget the first steps on the way towards my professional artist profession.
How would you describe yourself and your artwork?
It is a difficult task to describe myself and my pieces of art. Over the years I have realized that I don’t know myself, an artist Tatiana Palchuk, very well.
‘’Get to know you and you will get to know the world’’ have been said by the wise ones, therefore I haven’t yet gotten to know the world and I know that I will never get to know it to the end.
Whereas , my pieces of art can be better described by the audience and the art critics. I can only add that I paint the same way I breathe, it’s absolutely natural, organically, having pleasure and having no torture of creating.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
In the life itself that surrounds us and there is nowhere else to look for it. Consciousness, sub consciousness-that is something abstractive to us, ethereal and at the same time so closely tied with life. That is life. Colors of things, the sky, fog. Sounds, scents, a ray of the sun, form of some associations, memories, objects. A bird’s flight, the noise of the city, footsteps in the park, an event –and thus to infinity…..This amount is an impulse to create.
Great importance to my creative work can be given to the artworks of those artists who have lived before me. The art I have gained as an inheritance, the art that has no nationality and the boundaries of the state. The best that mankind has created for me in my sphere, and what to observe is a great honor and happiness, has been situated in the best depositories of art, cathedrals, museums, and galleries.
What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?
I hope that my art evokes feedback. Absolutely positive emotions. The feelings that I had when creating my pieces of art are now felt by my viewers. First, it is harmony and the beauty of the surrounding world the way I see it in general. Certainly, praising the world has absolutely positive and kind-hearted emotions. As in childhood fairy tales where the evil is always beaten by the good offering hope. I’m sure that real, true art can find its way to the human soul straight, fast, and have no explanations of mediators. It talks to you straight on, you accept it and the piece of art becomes a friend of yours, or it’s hung on the wall at home, by your family member.
When do you know that an artwork is finished?
When I think that the painting is finished I put it aside and let it stand there for some time so that I don’t see it and forgotten of its existence. It can be a period of about 2-3 weeks. Afterward, I state the painting on the easel again and watch it with a fresh sight from aside. If I’m satisfied with my work and don’t want to add anything, change or correct it then it’s satisfactory and the painting is finished. However, some tiny changes are being made until it seems to me that everything is o.k.
And then I can tell to myself ‘’Well done, Tatyana!’’
What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?
There have been several, important to me, holds, and stops. The first one was participating in the exhibition of the young artists of the state in 1981. I had a feeling of my heart jumping out of my chest because of the great happiness and joy that I had then. I was 26 at that time. The second moment was in 1993 when I had my first solo exhibition in Riga, I was 39 then and while going to the exhibition I thought I wasn’t going to reach the opening of the exhibition and if I was -I would fall unconscious.
The third moment. I belong to the crowd of people who consider and wish everyone to be involved in the one and only sphere the person belongs. I can paint but I’m absolutely unskilled at selling, advertising, and promoting them. I don’t have the ability to organize exhibitions, create contacts, participate in competitions, fill in all the necessary forms, inquiry forms, etc… Therefore there are such people as art agents. They have a taste for art, the talent of a viewer, and a talent to acquaint the audience with the artwork. And the best thing is that such a person has come into my life first by purchasing my paintings, then by becoming my agent, and afterward by ‘’purchasing ‘’ my heart and becoming a husband of mine. Now I think only about painting and the rest is in the hands of my husband Peter Rikans. It’s easier to go along the hard path of a nowadays artist together and it’s great luck to have a shoulder to lean against.
How long does it take to produce one work?
It depends on the moment that you consider to be the beginning of painting a piece of art.
The idea of the painting sometimes lasts for years. The Initial Idea is a thought, but it has to mature, to get covered with content like a fruit stone that has to get covered with the fruit itself. And then, finally, it becomes clear what the painting has to look like. Then it goes on with gathering the materials, collecting them, sketches, and drafts. If I have thought of people to be foreseen in my paintings then I have to think of searching for faces, and types followed by the development of the appearance, color gamut, and composition. Then I summarize it all by creating the so-called ‘’cardboard’ ’a black-and-white ready, graphical development of the painting ranged 100%.Everything is, actually, developed there –a format, composition, details, etc…..
Then there follows the copying of the material onto the canvas in two stages.
I fact that was the way the ancient masterminds of the Renaissance used to work creating their frescos. All the listed before appear s to be the main process of creating a painting. In the end, all I just have to do is to paint the painting onto the canvas. Finally, it’s only a question of technique and skills. So, adding to the mentioned before, in order to give absolute birth to the painting, 2-3 months go by, sometimes even more (it depends on the difficulty of the format and details of the painting).
What exciting projects are you working on right now? Can you share some of the future plans for your artwork?
At the moment I’m working on the long-time series of paintings from the theme “Little Things World” Some works are being put aside as “too mellow” and 5 are finished. Still, something more is placed in my mind, in sketches, and materials. These are the nearest plans and intentions but what is the outcome-we will see. I hope it’s going to be good. I have put down much intent, but while I haven’t begun realizing them with a pencil in my hands, I am going to stay silent. There is a saying’’ if you tell your plans to anyone they will fail’’.
There are lots of ideas and thoughts but everything depends on the mental and physical possibilities. Sometimes artists need to do nothing but be lazy, lounge about, listen to music, read crime novels, to do the so-called nothing. But still, the head does its work and this’’ zero-gravity flight’’ gives lots of strength afterward to realize ideas and helps the ideas to be born.
There, how easy it may seem outward. The phrases of the ideas are being written in my notebooks, on small pieces of paper to serve many more human lives. I hope I can realize at least a bit of that all.
Do you have any upcoming events or exhibitions we should know about?
My Art’s is and was exhibited in Artprice, ArtSpecifier, ArtFinder, CircleArts, SAATCHI, ArtCuratorsHub, and in other the world Investments and many more sources of Internet. They are great helpers when promoting the artist’s recognition. An Italian publishing house Bianascuro is going to publish a book about me. So everything is in process and an accent is more to be applied to my promoter.
Where do you see your art going in five years?
I’m smiling. It‘s a matter of dreams. Of course, I wish to see my artworks to be exhibited in serious, high-quality collections of art collectors and art lovers, in museums and art galleries. Also, every artist wishes to find an owner for each artwork so they found their place in the houses and hearts of people thus becoming members of families. I want my paintings to bring joy, love, and peace, not discomposure and negative irritation. In the modern world, it’s long ago too much negativity.
I definitely want to say what I love outside of my main job – painting. First, it is Classical Music, in my opinion, the highest of the arts. The only thing that cannot be physically touched, seen, smelled, or tasted. We can only hear that, but that is enough for good music to stir up a whole ocean of feelings, thoughts, and imagination in a person. I have to thank my piano and music teacher Mrs. Karina Weber for my love of music. She was the one under whose influence I feel the music. even physically. Her favorite, and of course now mine too, was Chopin. When I paint, music always plays in the background (not only classical but also jazz and good pop music too)
Also, I really love to travel, to discover the world, European art centers, Galleries, Museums, Nature, People, Architecture, History, etc…etc…As they say: There can be nothing better than a trip…- only a new trip. Peter and I are in absolute agreement here.
Well, speaking of fine art…I am a big lover of the early Italian Renaissance (Proto-Renaissance). Above all, the inimitable frescoes of the Great Masters. First of all, such personalities as Ducio di Buoninsegna, Giotto di Bondone, and Simone Martini. I love the Northern Renaissance, Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van Der Weyden. And of course the Great Master Vermeer. That’s why my life is beautiful, and full and I always lack time, sometimes health, and lack of means to fulfill all my wishes. It’s good that I have Peter next to me, who is first of all a real friend and support in everything I do and we do it together.
Tatyana Palchuk – Artist
Peteris Rikans – Art Agent , Collector, Promoter, Museum of America International Art Consultant
Tatjana Palcuka-Rikane
The triumph of beauty
The contemporary art world is a rich world of malaise. A world in which we all try to do the artists, without understanding, however, that to make art, the real one, you must have talent; the talent that has Tatjana Palcuka-Rikane. An artist that testifies to the beauty of our world. An artist that, in her magnificent narratives on canvas, it shows us that the figurative painting is not dead. The favorite subjects of the artist are horses, still lifes, and women. Anyone who observes such works is projected into a new Paradise, dominated by eternal and sublime beauty. The colors that the artist chooses are very warms. With great stylistic skill, Tatjana alternates areas of light with shadows areas. The technique of chiaroscuro is evident. The great merit of the painter is to be able to dominate the light. Her figures are angelic. Her women become true and own goddesses that ride on horses of light or find themselves having to communicate artistically with peacocks of a stylish appearance. Real melodies. I want to define these splendid works so. Real melodies signal and chromatic, which the artist decides to “play” for us through her brush. Those that the artist creates, are genuine visual poems. Sweet poems to listen and to learn, absolutely, by memory.
The works of Tatjana Palcuka-Rikane, are works intended to remain in history; works that our children are going to study at school and remember for eternity. Rarely, I have met along my path, an artist with such representative refinement and elegance. The artist embroiders the most beautiful dress of contemporary art. She embroiders it through the beauty of form and harmony of the colors. There are many years now that I follow the creative path of the artist, but I have to say that every time I am amazed. The works of Tatjana are golden dreams. Her art is a real triumph of beauty. A beauty that should be savored like the madeleine of Marcel Proust: in order to rediscover that lost time; the time that is related to the beauty of the remembrance.
Works, those of Palcuka-Rikane, which brings us back in time; at that time in which dominates the harmony; at that time, free of envy, the malaise, and the injustice of man. Works able to conquer our eyes and the attention of the harshest critic too. These are works to observe with eyes open, then close them, and let yourself be transported in the beautiful atmosphere that the artist paints. The observer is thus, in a new Eden. An art, which leaves every shadow linked to the malaise of a sign, and arrives to draw the beauty of the world in which we live.
The artist does not need to use linguistic shortcuts linked to silly intellectualism devoid of meaning; but tracks real masterpieces of light: angelic figures able to remain in the collective memory. With great cultural realism, I can say that Tatjana Palcuka-Rikane is an amazing artist and extremely refined; an artist beloved by those who know contemporary art.
