Our friend, Robyn Smith, is so vital, so fun, so down to earth, and such a world bounder she could only be Australian. She turned up at my studio a couple of weeks ago in rather a dither. “I’ve been invited to present a piece in the St. Petersburg (Russia) Biennale and I’ve only got two weeks to get it done. Can I work in your studio? Do you want to help me prepare it?”
Robyn’s association with Russia is not accidental. She began studying the Russian language in Australia in the mid 90’s and made her first trip there in 1997. She was immediately taken with St. Petersburg, made friends there, stayed in touch with them. A few years later Robyn’s Russian professor in Australia introduced her to an artist with a studio in St. Petersburg who offered to share it with her. She ended up living about half of every year there. She says, “I always feel welcome and respected as an artist in Russia, much moreso than in my own country. Since the time of the Russian revolution and until quite recently artists were considered citizens who contributed something to the country and were treated as such. Some of that respect still remains.”
Robyn’s diptych, a tribute to Pushkin, is finished and she’s on her way to St. Petersburg with it under her arm.
Come back soon, Robyn.
Here’s what we were listening to: http://youtu.be/Hphwfq1wLJs
Printmaking Courses in Spain 