Monday, March 15, 2010

Whittling away the hours....

Meet Stevo Radelic, a Serbian refugee who has been living just outside of Belgrade now ever since he lost his home in Croatia at the beginning of Yugoslavia's break-up. He's made a new life for himself, although a difficult one, creating works of art from pieces of oak. Some wood he finds himself; other times clients bring him a pieces to turn into an artwork. He often comes to town on special days (here he had come for International Women's Day on March 8th) to try to sell what he's made. Prices range according to size and amount of work. The piece on the right, for example, costs 50 euros.

17 comments:

Yvi said...

His works looks great and interesting...

I think he is very talented...

Greetings
Yvi

Lowell said...

A sad story. He's very good. Excellent work, actually. Somehow, people with these skills should be compensated so they could live a decent life and perpetuate their contribution to society!

Thérèse said...

A straight look, a beautiful expression. It must be so hard to start all over again.

LA / nodecaf said...

From your mouth to the gods ears Jacob. It is sad, but in this age unless "art" is backed by mass media it has no value. Artists that can craft things with their hands are almost seen as unskilled and disposable by society. I know this all too well. I have three degrees in the arts, yet have had to take an unskilled job because I am "only" an artist. As of May 1, I will once again be homeless. At age 53 I am still hanging in there as an artist, but do not know how much longer that can last. It has been strongly suggested that I "retrain". If I had a way I would buy one of his wood carvings. Being an artist is a hard life, yet I try to support others in the arts where I can. It is always good to know that your work is appreciated by your peers.

Luis Gomez said...

Beautiful portrait. Great post.

Louis la Vache said...

«Louis» really admires this man's carvings. («Louis» couldn't carve a notch in a toothpick...) It's rough to start over like this man has. «Louis» hopes he finds many customers...

xxx said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
xxx said...

A beautiful photo...
even without your words this photos tells a story.

thanks againg for all that you share

best wishes
Ribbon

Tash said...

He is an excellent artist. His face and those of his subjects both hold a lot of pathos.

Olivier said...

beau portrait de cet artiste, par ce temps de crise, cela ne doit pas etre facile de vendre ces oeuvres

B SQUARED said...

I wish him all good fortune.

Daryl said...

He has a fascinating face and clearly alot of talent. Artisans like this are, sadly, a dying lot....

tunisian said...

Excellet work
I love it
so I'm a teenager from Tunisia
I love your blog
i hope that you visit my blog
have a nice day

Unknown said...

All the faces in this photo are beautiful, rugged, strong. Where was he from in Croatia?

Pat said...

Helenmac,

He did tell me the name of the small village, but I can't remember....

Chuck Pefley said...

Beautiful carvings! He looks as though he's had a very hard life. Any idea how well he does selling his work?

prashant said...

a beautiful expression. It must be so hard to start all over again.
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SUNSET

  A beautiful urban sunset over New Belgrade. The 'smoke' from the stacks on the left is actually just steam from the heating plant....