Another place that took us a while to find was my art school.

I remember when Mum and Dad were first telling me about maybe going to the art school. I wasn’t happy at first, because I misunderstood it.

I asked, what if they teach me to draw a flower differently? Like with a white centre? I didn’t understand that an art school wasn’t for teaching me how to draw, but how to improve my drawing skills.

And I can say, I loved my first day at the art school. At first, it was three times a week, I think. And my first lesson was in the plasticine room. Plasticine is like play dough but it isn’t made out of salt and once you make something with it, it will last for years since it isn’t made out of food. I still have some sculptures I made from plasticine. Sometimes it is hard at first, so you have to warm it up with your hands before it becomes mouldable. At first you will get blisters but eventually your hands toughen. I miss plasticine because there doesn’t seem to be a decent alternative. There is some sort of it, but sometimes it is crumbly or rubbery. It is never quite the same.  The type over here doesn’t stick to cardboard so well either.

In Russia, as I sat down my new teacher gave me a small piece of cardboard and drew and pear and apple on it. I already knew hoe to do this because I have this memory of another little girl taking the plasticine and spreading it over a piece of paper- but much thinner. She was making a duck. When I did it with cardboard I could make it much thicker.

Plasticine is good for making pictures with because you can make textures with it. My first one doesn’t have texture on it. It is a simple picture- with and apple and a pear, and colours in the background. For some reason Russian art schools always start that way – drawing fruit. It is a great way to see what I was up to in art without drawing anything complicated- by seeing what textures I could find and the sense of colour I had in filling the background. But back then the background looked rather patchy and the colours sudden. It is kind of like I’ve heard that to see someone’s skills in cooking, you could ask them to make an omelette. They don’t need to see any fancy dish yet. Just see what an omelette is like. Or a picture of fruit.

On the back of the cardboard, my teacher wrote my name in Russian.  And even though I didn’t think I would at first, I really liked art school.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find a proper art school over here. I already know what they teach me and the lessons are never long enough. Australians aren’t nearly as invested into The Arts (though much more in Sports)- stuff like that usually develops in older cultures. Because Aboriginal peoples here have very complexed art. I haven’t been able to find someone to teach me it, they always seem to do it themselves but not explain it. Are there rules to it? In Russian, you never leave an empty area on a paper. Almost never. One time I saw a painting in Tynda that wasn’t full, and it felt incomplete even though it was finished. They always paint the background. It is just as important.

Perhaps that art school in Krasnoyarsk was irreplaceable



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