Irina Rodionovna Zinatulina is a talented artist. She started painting in 2000. In her own words, ‘It all started when I suddenly experienced a yearning to start painting.’ She bought paints and started to master the basics of figurative painting. Naturally the professional equipment — an easel, canvases — came later. In 2006 she spent a year studying painting with Lyudmila Yakunina, a member of the Russian Union of Artists. In 2010 she became a member of the Siberian Expanses group of artists. She has participated role in Beauties of the Kuzbass Summer, a plein-air painting competition, and also in local and regional exhibitions such as Salair Ridge and Golden Shoria. Irina Zinatulina does most of her painting outdoors. Most of her paintings depict Siberia’s nature, in all its wistful beauty. The artist, with her gift for seeing poetry and beauty everywhere, expresses a sense of harmony and the calming influence of the natural world in her work.
She has a great love for her native land, and in her study The Banks of the River Tom she depicts a “lovely corner of the Kuzbass”. In the foreground there is a carpet of fluffy grasses. A weeping willow leans out over the river. The calm waters of the River Tom — the “dark river” — flow between its rocky banks. In the distance we
see the majestic hills with their mottled colors. The blue sky is covered with a veil of snow-white cloud, which grazes the hilltops.
With her natural instinct for plein-air painting, the artist communicates to the viewer the great wealth of color that characterizes Siberia’s nature. The contrast between the saturated and muted tones, and the artist’s skillful use of tonal highlights convey the unique character, beauty and majesty of Mountain Shoria. This landscape, at once dazzling and calming, awakens feelings of love for the natural world.
The River Tom, which inspired the artist to paint this picture, runs through Western Siberia. It is a right tributary of the Ob, Russia’s second largest river in terms of volume after the Irtysh. The banks of the Ob are rich in remarkable geological features — true masterpieces of nature. These include the Anikin Rock, the Warrior Rock, the Blue Cliff, the Camp Garden, the confluence of the rivers Ob and Tom, the Tutal Crags and the Tomsk Petroglyphs. The cities in this region include Mezhdurechensk, Myski, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Yurga, Tomsk and Seversk.
There are various theories as to the origin of the name Tom. Some linguists believe that it means ‘river’ or ‘dark’. There is also the legend of a Tatar girl called Toma, who supposedly gave her name to the river. Irina Zinatulina is able to express the fantastic and mysterious natural beauty of her region in her work.
She has a great love for her native land, and in her study The Banks of the River Tom she depicts a “lovely corner of the Kuzbass”. In the foreground there is a carpet of fluffy grasses. A weeping willow leans out over the river. The calm waters of the River Tom — the “dark river” — flow between its rocky banks. In the distance we
see the majestic hills with their mottled colors. The blue sky is covered with a veil of snow-white cloud, which grazes the hilltops.
With her natural instinct for plein-air painting, the artist communicates to the viewer the great wealth of color that characterizes Siberia’s nature. The contrast between the saturated and muted tones, and the artist’s skillful use of tonal highlights convey the unique character, beauty and majesty of Mountain Shoria. This landscape, at once dazzling and calming, awakens feelings of love for the natural world.
The River Tom, which inspired the artist to paint this picture, runs through Western Siberia. It is a right tributary of the Ob, Russia’s second largest river in terms of volume after the Irtysh. The banks of the Ob are rich in remarkable geological features — true masterpieces of nature. These include the Anikin Rock, the Warrior Rock, the Blue Cliff, the Camp Garden, the confluence of the rivers Ob and Tom, the Tutal Crags and the Tomsk Petroglyphs. The cities in this region include Mezhdurechensk, Myski, Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Yurga, Tomsk and Seversk.
There are various theories as to the origin of the name Tom. Some linguists believe that it means ‘river’ or ‘dark’. There is also the legend of a Tatar girl called Toma, who supposedly gave her name to the river. Irina Zinatulina is able to express the fantastic and mysterious natural beauty of her region in her work.
