The wife of an employee of the Vinogradovsky open-pit mine has found a successful formula for paintings with coal chips
Valentina Berdnikova: “I made my first picture back in 2012. As the head of the art studio at the city cultural club "Builder", I needed to come up with an artistic composition dedicated to Miner's Day. I experimented with materials and techniques, which resulted in my first work with coal chips. It was a portrait of a miner, seen in some printed publication. Now the technique of creating paintings has been worked out to the point of automation. Fulfilling urgent orders in A2 formats can take three days, although this is painstaking work.”
Valentina notes that she has been drawing since childhood. The art school, the Belovsky Pedagogical College with the specialty “Teacher of Fine Arts and Drawing,” and then the Faculty of Design at the Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University honed the artist’s talent to high professionalism.
Turning to the mining theme in her work was inevitable, since her hometown of Belovo is surrounded by open-pit mines and mines, and besides, her husband has been working at the Vinogradovsky open-pit mine for more than 15 years and is passionate about his work.
“I always have someone to ask about the features of the technique I paint, to find out the nuances of the production landscape,” says Valentina about the role of her husband in creativity.
The original feature of the paintings was the bright yellow background, which the artist chose because of its favorable contrast with the rich black color of coal.
“I tried different color solutions. But against a yellow background, in some places the coal begins to reflect the light brighter, as if sparkling, and the shaded areas create the effect of a velvety texture. Many friends recommend that I patent the technique, since no one has ever seen analogues of my work anywhere,” shares Valentina.
