It's been extremely rainy these days and I absolutely love it. Rainy weather is literally one of my favourite things on earth, yes, that sounds like vast exaggeration however it isn't. There's just something about it that's oddly calming, it brings about a stillness in me that's unlike any other. Just last night I was looking out my window at the downpour on the street and I swear I haven't felt that at ease in ages. The view from my window is quite unspectacular by the way, my neighbour's house is the first thing you see, but at the right angle, you can see the street which is nothing amazing either but at night, in the rainfall, illuminated by the blurry glow of street lamps, it is perfect.
There's something melancholy about the rain isn't there? The gloomy weather, the chill, the lonely raindrops sliding down the window panes, all of it almost seems magical, straight out of a storybook. I absolutely adore it. This type of weather brings out my creative side full force, I feel like I could do it all with just the weather as my inspiration. It makes being alone not seem like a bad thing and empowering even, like armour, like being cloaked in blanket of comfort.
Comfort, which I've also found in the work of Leonid Afremov.
Times Square by Leonid Afremov
Afremov is a spectacular Russian-Israeli artist born in Belarus, famed for his colourful works which are mostly created via oils and a palette knife. His work is unmistakeable and unique. I fell in love with his pieces in New York a couple years back actually, well technically they weren't "his" they were recreations by a street artist who painted similar pieces. The one that captured my attention was of a girl holding an umbrella walking down a rainy, distinctively "New York" street (I actually bought this painting for $5). Anyway, after I got back home I did my research and came across Afremov's masterpieces (in my opinion), and imagine my glee when there were more than one rain-centric pieces :D There are so many actually, I can't even post them all though I wish I could, you can check them all out and even get yourself one here. An Afremov piece is one of the things I must own in this life. I'm slightly talented in the art category, but not nearly anything that comes close to this, also if I had time to even practice it would help. Alas, studying law doesn't permit for such leisure time.
Rain Princess by Leonid Afremov
"Rain Princess" is by far my favourite of Afremov's work, and he has some pretty amazing pieces. There's just something about this one that speaks to me, the solitude and mystery perhaps. Those are two traits which most people who interest me possess, also, they're traits I see in myself. For as long as I've known myself I haven't been good at the whole keeping friends thing. People have slipped in and out of my life all the time, sometimes it's bothered me, sometimes I didn't even notice. Of course there are some loyal ones (I could count them on one hand) that I've picked up over time and they've stayed through thick and thin (so far). Lately though, I've learnt to own my solitude and use it to build me up rather than tear me down. The description of this painting is literally everything put into words in such an eloquent way that I felt no need to paraphrase or change it:
"Enigmatic stranger ruling her world:
The paradox is that while people usually say they don’t like rain, they tend to find rainy weather very mysterious and romantic. Indeed, a sun-lit landscape can rarely offer a puzzle to unravel – everything is clear and transparent. This is why cheap wall art that is made in great numbers prefers to ignore the beauty of rainy parks and streets – why, it too requires a great deal of imagination to break stereotypes like “rain is boring, no one is going to buy it, let’s print more sunny landscapes”. The rain theme in wall canvas art is definitely underdeveloped.
Fortunately, there are artists who are equal to challenge. Leonid Afremov’s works are often dedicated to rain. He manages to catch these elusive moments of reverie that are inspired, for example, by an unknown woman who is walking in front of you under her umbrella as if she was the princess of this rainy kingdom. Who is she in reality? Where is she going? Perhaps it doesn’t even matter, but for one beautiful moment she makes you forget about everything else in this world."Just let it sink in for a moment. It's absolutely exhilarating to think you could instigate that level of wonder in another person by just passing by. That's the kind of person I want to be, the person people want to get to know, not the one they just see and think nothing of.
xoxo, Shantilly.
