Tell us a bit about yourself. Hi! I’m Maria. I draw and make paper dolls for Dubrovskaya’s Art, and recently I opened PhotoMariArty to sell the photographs I take when I travel. I was born and raised in the coldest region of Russia, Yakutia. Most of my family were artists and teachers. Since those occupations are not well-paying in my country and my family didn’t want me to follow in their footsteps, I was encouraged to become a tax specialist. But my genes prevailed over common sense, and I started working as a web designer since before I got my diploma. When I was 27, I moved to St. Petersburg to start a photography career. Yet winter chased me away, and in 2007 I made an overland journey to Asia and its unending summer. That was the beginning of a four year kaleidoscope of backpacking adventures in Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines. In Goa, I met my boyfriend. Together we went around the Himalaya by motorbike, climbed the Java volcanoes and explored the Philippine Islands by tiny boat. On the Negros Island we found the perfect town and house to settle down, we got a dog, opened an online shop and took a break for creative work for a couple of years.
Apart from creating things, what do you do? During all these years away from Russia we’ve been writing a blog about our journeys. We’re trying to stay in new places for some time, settle down for couple of months or more. We call our lifestyle “traveliving” and we promote the benefits and advantages of living via conscious, slow-paced journey.
What would be the title of your memoir? Why? How I Lived My Long and Happy Life. I’d try to show by my own example the importance of expanding the enforced boundaries, getting rid of fears, thinking big and being happy wherever you are. Maybe someone would find it inspiring. Dubrovskaya
Where does your inspiration come from? I’m inspired by other creative people and their works. When I see their passion for creating beautiful things with their own hands, I can’t help do the same. The highest concentration of this kind of people I’ve seen was while living in Ubud, Bali. Every block of the town, including the house walls, is full of handmade beauty, so even a small walk can inspire weeks of creativity.
What does handmade mean to you? I’ve been surrounded by handmade things for as long as I can remember. My father and uncles painted pictures with oil, carved in wood, bone and ice, built houses, made furniture, jewelry and toys. My numerous aunts sewed fur boots, fur caps, worked with beads, knitted and embroidered. Handmade was my life environment back then. Now this is my way of getting back to my childhood – something familiar, hearty and sincere.
Who has been most influential in your craft? My father. He was the most talented man I ever knew. I can’t even imagine coming close to him. In comparison with what he painted and made, my craftwork seems poor. The memory of my father is what spurs me to evolve.
When did you know you were an artist/maker? I’m probably smoothly progressing from a maker to an artist. The day when I can consider myself a true artist I would surely remember, but I don’t dare to call myself one yet.
How would you describe your creative process? I’m very disorganized. I don’t have a sketchbook, and my workspace is always a mess. Ideas come to me spontaneously, and when they come I can’t rest or fall asleep until I bring them to life. The process often takes minutes, and the results are rubbish. But practice makes perfect, and time after time I get better results. I’m still not quite sure whether I sell the “ideal” final product of my craft. Besides, my paper dolls are just one of my creative desires materialized, and maybe this is just a small step on my way to something else. Some things I’ve come up with years ago have slightly changed now. Thus, my life is a perpetual creative process.
If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or craftsman (dead or alive), who would it be? Siberian forests were my father’s studio. Sometimes he built a ladder and an easel support at a high tree to paint landscapes. I wish I could go back to this studio and be with him again.
What handmade possession do you most cherish? One day my grandmother passed me my mother’s pendant. My mom died when I was a baby and I can’t remember her at all. This pendant is the only corporeal thing connecting us. Recently I learned this pendant is also a piece of traditional Turkmenian hammered silver.
How do you get out of your creative ruts? When I feel I’m starting to grow mold without new ideas and drawing, I go and look at new things my favorite artists did. I see they are not idle. This gives me a powerful impulse, a good kick in the pants to join them and add some more beauty or just funny things to this world.
Where would you like to be in ten years? Ten years ago I was a shy economics student without dreams or desires. Back then, I would never believe in the happy place I am living at now. And in ten years I’d love to find myself in a place I can’t imagine now even in my boldest dreams.
