Magazine “Blacksmith’s Workshop” No. 3
CONDUCTOR OF THE UKRAINIAN BAROQUE
Our new story is about a person you have probably already met on your way. Her work cannot be overlooked, it cannot be confused with other masters, its metal becomes an ornament for both modest and majestic architecture. The word today goes to the member-correspondent of the UAA, Master and Teacher – Mr. Bohdan Novoselskyi.
1. Sonnet of monumentality
“There was a full house of wheels from the T-150 tractor, so we spent a whole month doing repairs, installed the horn and started with this hammer. Then we realized that we are getting cramped, because one part of the work is here, the other is at home, in the yard, in the “12×10″ forge. It was difficult…” – This is how our acquaintance with Bohdan Novoselskyi’s “Blacksmith Workshops” began. And from the very first steps it became clear what work had been invested in these workshops over many years. They say about such people – “careful and tireless Master.” This is his life. And it is inseparable from the life of the entire blacksmith family. ”
… Dad helped me. He is a blacksmith , he had a great knack for metalwork, which he passed on to me,” continues the Master. And after a few minutes, we find out that both grandfather and great-grandfather were not indifferent to blacksmithing.
It is not surprising that his son, Volodymyr, transferred to the part-time department of the financial academy and applied to his father’s forge. Today, his father calls him “old man” with love and respect.
Mr. Bohdan has a historical relic – a pneumatic hammer. If for some the time of the disappearance of Soviet rubles was the end of the “planned economy”, then for the new owner Bohdan Novoselsky it was the beginning – a new hammer was bought with all the family’s money (10,000 rubles) from the director of the sugar factory. Therefore, the foundation for it was made conscientiously – 4.5 m x 2.5 m, so even the concrete became “golden”. Although we had to wait for this for more than ten years due to lack of money. Since the 80s, a lot of water has flowed.
“… They studied business, management, economics, as it is all called now. And today all this fell on my Volodya’s shoulders, and on mine – the design and the production itself. Our mother pulls papers, documentation, RES, tax, labor protection, social security… Time requires constant movement. For example, what is a modern composition? It should be an ideal place where you come and take the right screwdriver in the right place. The warehouse manager has to meet, competently advise the customer, talk intelligently and professionally… And my designers still have to tighten up to catch my ideas. At the moment, I myself draw, sketch, and they are already working on it for submission to the customer. A total of 45 people work. We are testing the new one for a month, if it is a good one, it will work. It is uninteresting and unpromising to keep a person who can only grind and clean…”
The owner, Bohdan Novoselskyi, is always on the lookout – both creatively and as a landlord. So now he is planning to make a modern room for painting, with lighting and heating, for the winter. And gradually, before our eyes, the former mechanical workshops of agricultural chemistry are turning into a blacksmith’s center. Even an abandoned crane – a beam today “plays into the hands” of craftsmen, because what else can you raise a gate 6.5 m high?
The constant evolution of the inner world is reflected in the works, which become guides to a harmonious environment that is formed and changes together with the Master: “Today I already have a customer. On the one hand, he grew up creatively: he knows what machine work is and what manual work is, and is ready to perceive it and explain its functionality. On the other hand, when the company already holds its brand, it must be kept. If you do one job poorly, it will lead to a number of unnecessary things. I try to work and present my work in such a way that everyone likes it – from a peasant to an academician. Even when the customer dictates his conditions – “do it thickly for me”, I still try to combine this “thickly” with some degree. Even the simplest work should look beautiful, and designing a simple work is the most difficult, because it is necessary to show beauty with minimal means. They order everything, although I keep a reference point to monumentality, it is closer to architecture to me. I observe with pleasure that the brightest representatives of Ukrainian blacksmithing today go their own way. I will gladly share my possessions with professionals, but only with professionals. I don’t even want to talk to the blacksmith “from the street” who came only to “know the secret” – he won’t do anything. Sometimes you look – our composition, worked out with completely different materials, is a completely different work. Rude, ugly, nasty work. You feel pleasure: they don’t even know how to copy…
The Master divides the work into stages: first he shows the catalogs in order to understand the customer’s own taste. Then – what amount he is able to pay. After that – a visit to the object, shooting, measurements, and – a harmonious combination with architecture.
Mr. Bohdan works on every house as if he himself lives in it. Beautifully combines stone with metal. Categorically discourages the customer from using artificial materials: tiles, pressed bricks. Gives preference to natural materials, colors of processed natural stone. Adheres to large forms, which are much more difficult to process technically. It works with a 32 mm round, because in the exterior it has a better appearance than a 12-14 mm round. Mr. Bohdan plans to work more with glass, and in order to combine glass with metal, impeccable technical training of his own students is necessary. So, there is still a lot of work ahead.
Currently, Bohdan Novoselskyi has a cherished dream – to create his own school and train the boys. After all, it is easier to teach a young person than to re-teach an old one. Because there should be a certain harmony between theory and practical training. For the second year now, the boys of Bohdan Novoselskyi’s “Blacksmithing Workshops” have been studying at the correspondence department of the faculty of artistic forging at Chernivtsi University, on the basis of Vyzhnytskyi College. Mr. Bohdan does not expect support from the state, although he hopes for favorable laws for the professional development of young people: “At one time, I had an audit from the tax office, and they ask why students are registered for half-time work. But these are not workers, I say, but students who are just starting to spin something. I will give you ten jobs in a year, or I will hire guys from work now, because I will not deliberately go bankrupt, making them full-time. I was understood…”
The master started the creation of his own school with a dialogue. The question of composition is considered – the whole team participates, all comments are listened to and analyzed “bone by bone”: there the center has been lost, here the proportion has been lost. And after that, he himself gets to work, corrects and teaches again.
Mr. Bohdan also has an exhibition hall, which can also tell a lot about the Master and the development of his work. Submitting sketches, photos of finished works, layouts in the computer, Mr. Bohdan understood: it is necessary to present the work in the material, because it is the natural touch of metal that gives a sense of completion. Samples are made at the expense of the company, but it is worth it. It becomes easier to work on a more serious order, because the customer can see how the material looks. This is how a certain aura is created that gives birth to and develops a creative concept.
Synthesis of timekeeping and sense of movement
Perhaps, our story about the Master and his “Blacksmith Workshops” would be incomplete if we did not invite Mr. Mykola Sarapin – Chief Artist of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Regional State Administration and Mr. Bohdan Gubal – Honored Worker of the Arts of Ukraine, member of the NSHU to express their opinions.
- Mr. Mykola, what exactly is the interesting style of Bohdan Novoselskyi?
Mykola - He revived it, because our smithy was destroyed, many samples were lost. And this is a great tragedy, because those were developed things that reflected their time. In the style of Novoselsky, there is a synthesis of keeping time and feeling the movement in which we live. In his works, history, proportions, plasticity, and rational application are scrupulously and competently preserved, because the technique of blacksmithing must be known perfectly. The XXI century calls out for other solutions for the combination of architecture and art. Architecture has come a long way at the moment, it is necessary to keep up with it, developing the image of the architect in relation to time. Mr. Bohdan’s technique is formed on the basis of experience, taste, feeling, internal culture. He lives and experiences together with the work. Each thing of the Master is finished and worked to perfection, each has an inner state.
What is your vision of the synthesis of architecture and blacksmithing in Western Ukraine?
Mykola - Blacksmithing is an integral part of architectural art. Now we have formed leading groups of blacksmiths who have raised Ukrainian blacksmithing to the European level. They already think in monumental, progressive categories, and this is the base that gives them freedom. Today, construction in Ukraine is developing very rapidly, and there is a need for blacksmithing to be combined with architecture in a single complex. Blacksmith bases of Prykarpattia companies have reached a large-scale, industrial level, and among them Ivano-Frankivsk region occupies one of the leading places. It warms the soul and heart that masters do not repeat themselves in their work. Blacksmiths received such an artistic impulse that they are no longer inferior to other creative genres – painting, sculpture, graphics.
Mr. Bohdan, in your opinion, what explains the leadership position of Western Ukraine in blacksmithing?
Mykola - It is here that the foundations of general blacksmithing education are laid. Walk around the city – Austro-Hungarian Art Nouveau, Art Nouveau. All this does not allow working below a certain level, and the start is determined by deep traditions. After all, the blacksmith in the village was the first person after the teacher and doctor. To twist a horseshoe, you had to have a certain skill. But craft is one thing, art is another. There were many hesitations when creating the first exhibition of artistic forging: whether it would be possible to collect a certain number of works. The main thing was the idea: to identify masters, show works, compare, trace possible directions of development and future prospects, communicate. They received a huge response, they talked about blacksmithing. It was in 2000. And it was then that I saw Bohdan Novoselskyi for the first time. He announced himself very loudly, already then he had his own face, stood out among others. He entered brightly, with works that were not random, with stylistics, compositional thinking, a special, actively twisted volute line, organic leaves. How many leaves I have seen, and Bohdan’s are completely different. They are brought to a plastic level. One gets the impression that they were sculpted by a sculptor, molded and only then assembled. But all this is done by blacksmithing methods. Behind that, I see a lot of work and the main thing is that “work does not smell like sweat.” It is in Bohdan that this lightness, virtuosity, when the master wins a melody, even though it takes so much work, is transferred. A special method of metal processing is also very important to Bohdan. This dullness is in harmony with the whole composition. Metal breathes and looks natural. This Master has his own artistic path, his own core, creative line, his own search. It happens like this: an exhibition, a blacksmith has seen a certain direction and is already trying to follow it. These are the people who do not stand firmly on their feet, do not have their own taste, their own compositional approach, their own techniques. Bohdan tries many different ideas, makes a huge selection. He always remains himself, which is very important for a creative personality.
Bohdan has great prospects and solid work experience. Having a good school, he teaches, imparts knowledge, creates a creative environment.
Sometimes, trying to tell as fully as possible about the artist, they forget about the person, the features inherent to him…
Bohdan Hubal. – A bright detail: he remains a rather modest person, tactful, kind and decent, he is very humane.
Mykola Sarapin. – This is a great organizer of blacksmithing. He gathers around him creative people who have individuality, he doesn’t care who works for him, because it affects his work. Having sent the boys from his town to study, he expects that they will come with new thoughts, with energy, promising applications that will be able to convince him as a teacher.