Landscapes: Melnik and the Arbanassi Road, 2006-2007

"View to Tsarevetz and Arbanassi cliffs" 2006 Veliko Tarnovo

A solo show I had in 2023, would showcase figurative work, most of which had been produced that year.

However, I wanted to create an atmosphere for those figures and narratives.

 

To do this, I included paintings from various series. Because my subject matter could vary greatly over the years, I was curious what story would unfold or what thread would successfully link them together.

 

Surprising to me, I unearthed a box of early landscapes I made in Bulgaria, not long after I had left the States. I made them as “warm up” exercises and simply packed them away. At the time, I had a temporary studio in an old sweet shop at the base of the road leading from Arbanassi, a village perched on the cliffs, to the base of Veliko Tarnovo, the capital of the second Bulgarian kingdom, and a city undulating in curves, alongside the Yantra River.

That road holds a special story for me.

"Road to Tsarevetz" (Veliko Tarnovo) 2006

The road is less than 2.5 km long, and takes 3 to 4 minutes to travel its length by car, or 26 minutes by foot. 

It begins high on the Arbanassi cliffs and snakes its way down to the base of Veliko Tarnovo before rising up again in a steep slope to enter the city.. It is a treacherous road to maneuver on foot as there are no sidewalks and cars zip around way too fast. There is not one extra meter to provide a safe place to step off the road in an emergency. It is either the cliff wall or the precipice jutting above the deep valley. I have walked that narrow road often and each time I think, this is crazy.

 

During the time I had the studio, after one devastating storm, the  lower end of the road simply sank into the earth. It was a huge crater. A bus could fit in it. To pass, those on foot had to climb into the forest via a smaller cliff that miraculously appeared at the edge of the crater. There was no physical way for any vehicle to pass, not even a bicycle… of course, despite a chain and warning signs at the top of the cliff, several Bulgarian drivers stubbornly attempted the feat, only to have to reverse 2.5 km up the hill, and then drive a good 10 km to get to the city from another direction. 

"View to Tsarevetz" Veliko Tarnovo 2006

It was glorious for me because, without cars, I could walk safely downhill and enjoy a pristine landscape with the ghost of the city rising up ahead of me in the early morning light. It made me think of old times, when this road must have been used by people with wagons and horses. They would have had this feeling every time. Square kilometers of pure forest, sounds of birds and nature.

 

Of course, there were times when you realized just how vulnerable you were. You were a solitary presence with no one to call out to. It could be downright spooky.

 

Along this daily commute from the village to my “former sweet shop” studio, I encountered the unusual and rare individual and surprised a few critters. I jotted down stories and notes; I watched. I listened. 

I treasured my adventures.

It took a long while before the road was repaired, which was frustrating for the local traffic, but not for me. Time and a work crew repaired those road wounds, but by then, my studio situation had changed.

A Melnik Plein Air

 

In Bulgaria, I produced my share of landscape paintings and drawings… especially when I was invited to participate in several ten-day plein air symposiums. 

In one particular case, a pop-up, why-not-event, I would join colleagues in the town of Melnik, located in the southwestern corner of Bulgaria, near the Greek and Macedonian borders. 

There, we would be given food and lodging for 5 days, paintings materials and a promise for a jolly good time. At the end of our stay, in thanks, we would each donate two paintings to the hotel owner for her collection.

 

I had traveled through Melnik twice, in order to reach the Rozhen Monastery (well worth the trip!). The background “mountain expanse” is unlike anything I’ve seen in Bulgaria. The winding road from Melnik to Rozhen takes you through the Melnik Sand Mountains or Sand Pyramids, slowly. It is as if nature is taking you on a personally guided tour. Each turn opens up an extraordinary surprise.

But now, with this trip, I had the opportunity to sink into a brief sojourn in Bulgaria’s famous "smallest town" itself. 

Indeed, it is small and indeed, to be noted, we happened to be experiencing an unusually intense hot summer spell.

"Melnik Landscape Nr1" 2007

Simply put, it was unbearable to paint during the scorching heat of the day time. We could begin in the late afternoons as the sun began to soften.

That left quite some free hours for the jolly good time. We enjoyed conversations and cold beers with the hotel owner, listened to buzzing flies, spoke of art and painting, traded recipes and watched the dogs lounging in the shadows. A new guest at the hotel was a German "schmetterling" enthusiast, who had traveled far to find butterflies particular to this very area. That guy was out at all times of the day and night and returned with passionate stories of his sightings. I was in good company.

"Melnik Landscape Nr 2" 2007

Five days is not a long time to produce acceptable paintings, especially when the heat is high, the minutes drag and time seems to settle into its own steaming rhythm. But, I was stubborn and attempted to paint in the early morning but even then, energy drained rapidly. I crouched in doorways or perched myself on a stone wall in whatever shadowed area I imagined would linger long enough to break the rays of the sun for a respectable length of time.

"Melnik Landscape Nr 3" 2007

Despite all of this, we explored the nooks and crannies of this famed small village. We visited the museum houses and gasped in awe at the massive wine cellars, the ceilings so high in height, the entrance was approachable in the old days, by men on horseback. We delightfully basked in the coolness of this cellar. 

In the tiny pathways besides ancient stone ruins, I found and gathered a load of Roman nails! Once I was told what they were, I seemed to find them everywhere.

Along with the guys from Sandanski, we visited the Rozhen monastery, met other friends, ate ice cream and finally painted late into the evenings.

 

 

Melnik, Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanassi, are part of my story.

Paintings: oil on canvas, 2006, 2007

                15.7" x 11.8" (40 cm x 30 cm)