Today we will introduce you to the doll master Anna Loginova

Anna says about herself: “I am one of those who have a life at 40, not that it begins, but, for sure, it changes dramatically.

I didn't play with dolls as a child, but I sewed clothes for them. I loved going to "Ali Baba's cave", my grandmother's wall cupboard. It was a treasure trove of scraps in tight little rolls, jars of buttons, lace gloves, knitted collars, old-fashioned hats, shoe pads, hammers, a planer, a vice, and other riches. Our family loved creativity, handicrafts and books.

I am a tailor by trade, but I have eagerly tried every kind of handicraft I have come across.

"My grown-up daughter, on her way out, asked: "Sew me a squiggle bunny!". Walking around Barnaul, we wandered into an exhibition gallery. And there, among pictures and drawings, there were three birds. They only vaguely resembled squiggles and were so incredible that I couldn't get away from them.

It was Tatiana Kozyreva's boho hares. At that moment I realised what the author's approach was. And I began to surf the internet in search of information. At that time there were handmade Internet conferences and, under their influence, I wanted to do everything: sew dolls and teddies, embroider, felting, etc. But not sculpting, because that was the only thing that seemed unattainable.

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"Unfathomable until I got to Natalia Filinova's course. It was a learning-playing experience, an artistic environment, that childlike feeling of entering a treasure trove. In these courses I realised that dolls can be different - beautiful or intimidating, with or without a deep meaning, that they contain all kinds of arts and crafts, and you don't have to choose between them anymore.

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"To understand my weaknesses and see the demands of professionals, I started participating in competitions. I was looking for a way to fill the gaps in my skills. I got all my puppetry knowledge online (a great option for a provincial). And I am eternally grateful to all my teachers.

The second place in the oldest international author's doll competition for the Hannie Sarris Award 2020 (Dabida) paused my tour of the competitions

With the help of a doll, I tell stories that excite me.

"This is how I communicate with the world. And the better I am at expressive means, the more accurately I can convey my reading. And so I continue to learn, thanks to the choice and opportunities available. And there is an amazingly warm and responsive community of puppeteers, a special world of mutual assistance.

My tribute to the first lady of pointe "Maria Taglioni as Sylphide"

Taglioni danced on pointe shoes. These new ballet shoes created the illusion of accidentally touching the stage with a foot.

Venice is the city of love.

The famous marine painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky also had a bright romance there. Fate brought the young painter together with Maria Taglioni, the first pointe ballerina.

But Mary knew too well the fate of the Sylph: the enamored fairy appeared to James, who, not knowing rest, found a means to catch her. The magic scarf helped to catch Sylphide, but broke her wings. And without them, the fairy died. James's life was also ruined ...

Not wanting such a fate, the Italian refused Aivazovsky in response to the marriage proposal. She wanted to float on stage. Was this decision correct? ⠀

In the mornings he painted in her palazzo and she rehearsed. The rest of the day was spent together. Aivazovsky proposed to her. But she said: "This shoe has trampled my love."

A ballet slipper, found while parsing Aivazovsky's belongings, was burned by his widow in the oven.

Thirteen years after they parted, Aivazovsky painted 'View of Venice from the Lido'. It shows two people in a gondola. They sit side by side, the woman has her hand dreamily dipped into the water. This is how the artist captured his Venetian romance with Maria Taglioni.

Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, real name Hovhannes Aivazyan, (1817-1900), was a Russian marine painter, battalion painter, collector and patron of the arts. He was a painter of the Main Naval Staff, an academician and honorary member of the Imperial Academy of Arts, an honorary member of the Academies of Arts in Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Florence and Stuttgart.

Student Aivazovsky fell, hit by the carriage. In the evening he was sent a ticket to the theater, in St. Petersburg a tour of the ballerina Taglioni. After the performance, Aivazovsky went to the artistic entrance, hoping to see the ballerina. Taglioni threw a bouquet of roses to Aivazovsky ...

What is she?

When she died, the 80-year-old Taglioni bequeathed to Aivazovsky every year on Palm Sunday to send lilies of the valley. And when he asked who they were from, she would say: "...from the woman who rejected him many years ago, though all her life she loved only him".

Aivazovsky received 16 baskets of lilies of the valley, but he never asked about anything ...

Today I want to develop my ideas.

For me, the art of the doll is the highest of the arts! It encompasses sculpture, painting, sewing, decorative techniques, immersion in real history and the incredible imagination of artists, naturalism, surrealism, futurism... whatever the author desires.

Therefore, I strive so much for the place where beauties and monsters exist on equal terms, where there is a place not only for Esmeralda, but also for Quasimodo, where not only beauty is important.

The power of impact on the viewer is what art is all about for me.

Today I seek and comprehend this magic!

@ severiana.dolls