**The Story of My Boards. St. Refresh, REBORN WOOD, TRANSFORMED IMAGES**

I have always been fascinated by the mystique that surrounds us when entering an old church or monastery, where the paintings and objects speak of centuries past. Many years ago, as a child, I was wandering along the seashore in Kavarna and found handles of amphorae bearing the fingerprints of the craftsman who had made them. My imagination carried me far away from the present, back to those ancient times.

My first passion as a child was archaeology. However, since almost everyone in my family was an artist, my path led me in that direction. I graduated from the Academy of Arts and developed my own perspective on things. I love visiting old churches and monasteries, which are abundant in our Bulgaria, where the mystique and history of the iconographers who painted the walls and iconostases are preserved.

In 1974, I visited the village of Kovachevitsa, where the church and most of the houses were in ruins. The first board I painted was from there. Nowadays, there are many abandoned houses and entire villages left to the mercy of fate in the country. Finding old, weathered boards discarded by time, I was struck by the idea of giving new life to these boards, making them resemble parts of an iconostasis or mural.

My drawings do not follow the canon of iconography, nor do I insist they should, as that requires extensive knowledge and practice in the field. My idea is that in a modern, contemporary setting, a „counterpoint“ with a spirit of memory for faith, for our Orthodox faith, which has been the foundation of our statehood and history, would stand out as very original.

By choosing various images of Jesus Christ or some saints, I aimed to create a form on the remaining part of a board that would speak of history. Some images are collective, drawn from murals or icons, where I sought the originality of clothing, inscriptions, and objects. These are images from different parts of our Bulgaria, but also from Macedonia, Georgia, Greece, and others.

There are artists, „marinists,“ who paint only the sea, others who paint modernisms or abstractions. I found inspiration in the history and beauty of iconic images. In my boards, where people see nothing more than a piece of wood that provides warmth in their homes, I aim to give a „new spirit and a different warmth.“

Vladimir Krastev