MARINA BARE

In 1985 Marina was enrolled in the Children’s Art School of St. Petersburg Russia at age 11. For the next four years she intensely studied oil painting, still life, drawing and composition under the top instructors of the Russian art world. During that time, her work was shown in competitions and exhibitions at , Gallery Palate, Hanover, Germany, International Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark and Jusupov Palace, St-Petersburg ,Russia.

At the age of 14 she began another four years of disciplined instruction at the Leningrad Art College of Serov, the former Imperial Academy of Painting and Drawing, where such artists as Rerih, Malevich and Serov had studied. Upon finishing she was admitted to the Seminary of Christian Religion, where she learned the art of painting Russian icons for one year.

At the age of 20 she enrolled in the Academy of Theatrical Art in St.-Petersburg, Russia, where she studied for another four years, until meeting here husband, John Bare of Salisbury NC. Who says.

“She has extensive fine art background, she knows all of the artists. If you go to the Hermitage (which boasts 3 million art items from the Stone Age to the 20th century), it’s like having your own private tour.”

She has worked and studied long and hard “She would leave from school and go to art school and get home and have to, very sleepily, either do homework before, or on the way home, or whenever she could stick it in there. And that was her day for years.” says John. Konovalova-Bare says she finds American art and artists “interesting” but does not plan to study art, American or otherwise, anymore. “I’m tired of studying!” she quips.

Since coming to the U.S., Marina has been able to stop “studying” and start showing. From the year 2000 through 2003 she has exhibited in no less than 21 regional exhibitions, and has been enthusiastically picked up by four galleries between North and South Carolina. Selected exhibitions include:

Konovalova-Bare’s oil work is playful, with color, dimension, light and shadow. Much of it reflects images in St. Petersburg — scientist Ivan Pavlov’s home, the gardens around the palace of Catherine II, the Moika River, the Church of the Blood where Alexander II was assassinated. Her detailed floral works exhibit her technical skills, and sensibilities, and her regional depictions of picturesque cityscapes from around the Southeast have been a true gift to U.S. collectors.

Even the size of her canvases proves she would let nothing stop her from speaking to the world through her painting. Some of her work is done on canvases no wider than 12”. That, her husband explains, is because “she couldn’t paint during winter because the house was closed in and the fumes from the paint would (disturb) her family. So she painted in the summertime, when she could take a canvas onto her balcony. But it was only 35-centimeters”.

“I want to paint life. To show what makes every minute of every day it's own perfect moment. I work with light and color to relay what I see and feel into my art. I give this combination to any who would look. In each of my paintings is a little part of me. The way I have seen this special little bit of life.”

Exclusively represented in Charleston by Charles II Art Gallery