The unique nature of Mountain Shoria, with the mountains embracing it on all sides in such a special way, and its forests and crystal-clear rivers. All this makes our region of Russia an enchanting place. Vladimir Kirillovich Gomenko, an artist from Mezhdurechensk, depicted the striking beauty of his native region in his paintings. He was a very active painter, often participating in local plein-air competitions. He travelled widely with his easel and palette, ‘from the Kuzbass to Lake Baikal’, and always painted from nature. Vladimir Gomenko’s landscapes are lyrical in mood — subtle, tender, and full of light. After all, Nature herself revealed her secrets and beauty to him as he worked.

In his painting, The River Rapids. Before the Rain, the artist depicted an attractive scene in Siberia — a village nestled in the foothills of the mountains, by the River Usa, not far from Mezhdurechensk. In the XVIII and XIX Centuries the Shorians (or Kuznetsk Tatars), the indigenous people of Mountain Shoria, had an encampment here. The settlement takes its name from the strong rapids on the River Usa at this point.

In the foreground we see an area of marshy ground, with high sedge grass. The water, disturbed only by slight ripples, is as smooth as a mirror, and reflects the cloudy sky and the trees. On the opposite bank can be seen a sunny meadow, with bright green grass. In the distance we see a line of dense forest, and the blue mountains.

The whole landscape is filled with an atmosphere of calm. At first sight, there is nothing to show that it is about to rain - there are no dark clouds in the sky. But if we look more closely we see a bird flying so close to the water that its wings almost touch the surface. This is a sure sign of a change in weather — it is going to rain.

In this picture we cannot see how deep the water is, which adds an element of mystery and a fairy tale quality to the scene. The indigenous people of Mountain Shoria believed in the existence of water spirits. For them, any body of water was inhabited by Sug-Eezi, the water spirit, who they imagined in the form of a woman with golden hair. The lady of the waters, like the Rusalka in the Slavic pre-Christian mythology, could steal a person’s soul for ever if they accidentally touched her golden locks. The Shorians believed that birds acted as intermediaries between people and the spirit world.

In this picture we can sense a transition from a simple depiction of the Siberian landscape to an more enigmatic aspect of nature.