TRAVEL WITH MY ART #45, BUNICA RIVER (BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA)
Hello! Welcome to another 'Travel With My Art' post. You know what that means- a painting reveal! This is where I show you my original art inspired by a certain place, and thus you travel with my art. In my forty-fifth post in this category, I'm taking you to Buna recreation zone in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As you might know, I visit Buna all the time. Now that I have captured this location on the canvas, I feel even a deeper connection to it. Once you paint a place, it really stays with you. Travel With My Art has definitely been one of the most meaningful series in my blog history. Once I started sharing my landscape, seascape and destination art with you, I felt that my blog has truly turned into a place to call my own. Painting and illustrating has always been a part of my life. My relationship with art has changed a lot throughout the years. I often struggled with identifying as an artist. It was never a matter of outside validation. It was more something I had to work on myself. Figuring out that it is better to work on one's art skills then think about one art skills has really helped in this sense. Having a regular art feature on my blog did not hurt either. My blog was always about sharing places that I love, but sharing my original illustrations and paintings of the places I loved visiting took everything to a new level. Once I painted a certain place, I really feel I have established a genuine connection to it.
Regular readers of my blog know that Buna is one of my favourite destinations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Buna is both the name of the recreational area and the settlement (village) near river Bunica. River Bunica is simply amazing. There is also a natural monument near where river divides into two (something I illustrated on by blog). I have visited Buna recreational area fairly recently, but the pictures I'm sharing today are actually from last year Spring. As for the painting of Buna river, it is also not new. This is the painting I was telling you about, the one that frustrated me. What frustrated me is that I painted it in a short time. I was only visiting Mostar for a few days, so I hurried to get it done. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, but I was short on time, so I tried to work quickly. Adding details in a hurry is no easy work. The whole experience has left me feeling exhausted. It was months ago, but I still remember how tired I felt. Finally, the painting was finished. Or was it? I kept feeling like something was missing so I waited a long time before actually posting it. To be honest, I'm still not entirely sure is it finished or not, but here it is goes: my riverscale. You know if we can have a landscape and a seascape, we can also have a riverscale. It is all about that water magic. Scroll down to see and read more.
So, the medium for this painting is acrylic on canvas. The art supplies: the acrylic paints are from Royal Talens and the canvas is....Hm, I'd have to check. I used my own photograph as a reference. You can see it under.
You can also see it in the gif. Yes, I created a little 'making of' gif' to show you the process. Funny how the process looks easy when you add a couple of art progress photographs in the picture. The real process is much more labour intensive. There are layers upon layers upon layers on paint. However, I think you get the gist.
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| How a painting is made: a little 'making of' gif |
Below you can see my painting set up. I painted this in my kitchen. I just used my kitchen table. Not the ideal of the solution but it served the purpose. As I already said, I used one of my own photographs as a reference. You can see the painting reference on the photographs under. I found this photograph on my old laptop in my old folders. I do not use this laptop anymore because it has gotten slow but I sure miss it. It had such a huge screen and I could see the photographs in detail.
Everything has it pros and cons. Painting en plein air is fabulous but not always possible. I personally enjoy both, painting from home and painting en plein air. Using a photograph reference and painting from life. It all works. It is all needed. As I wrote in my many of my posts, I think it is important to learn to work with and without a reference. Why? Well, because you won't always get a good reference. Sometimes you will not be able to find a good reference. Both painting with and without reference are important for developing one's art skills for numerous reasons. Since this post is not going to be an art essay, I'll leave it at that and move on.
When it comes to reference photography, in 99.9 cases I will use my own photographs or that of my husband, and for a number of reasons. When I use my own (our our photography) as a reference, I know what the actual place looked like. The photograph is just a reminder then. I'm painting a place I saw and experiences with my own eyes and senses. Now, when it comes to my 'Travel With My Art' feature, I used mostly my own photographs. I think there is only one or two places I did not use my own photographs for. You'll be able to see that if you visit my old posts.
What was challenging about this painting? Well, everything. A big part of the challenge was that I practically did not paint for months prior to just jumping in. Sure, I painted with kids all summer in the summer camp I worked in, but that was about it. I was literally months before I did a serious painting.
Even if it wasn't, this particular landscape would be a challenge. You guys now that I'm always up for challenge, right? Well, capturing the beauty of Buna is no easy feat. Capturing the beauty of Bunica river in Spring is another challenge. The scene I choose is like from some fairytale. Full of green, white and yellow tones.
Below is the collage with three layers. Some artists sketch detailed sketches, some loose ones and some just go in with the paint. I'm mostly just throw on the paint and work from there. Layer after layer. The stones in the water were probably the biggest challenge and I spent a lot of time working on them.
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Picture 1: First layer of paint, setting the scene Picture 2 & 3 : Second layer of paint Picture 4 : Adding in the details. |
Do you know that I often listen to audiobooks by Stanislaw Lem when I paint? Well, I did that while I was painting this one as well. Now, when I look at this painting, I can hear certain chapters from the novel in my head. For example, while I was painting trees there was this chapter on Marilyn Monroe. Yes, Monroe is talked a lot in this book and in a rather sweet way. You can find out a lot of interesting thing if you read quality science fiction. Not all science fiction is brilliant, but there are definitely some amazing books in this genre. As my regular readers now, I have been fan of science fiction since I was little. The same goes for fantasy. In fact besides classic (that I also teach!), I read mostly science fiction and fantasy.
However, let us get back to this painting. There are many ways to go around painting any landscape. There are also many styles one can employ. A landscape painted in Impressionist style will be different from a landscape painted in Realist style, and Realist landscape will be different from a Hyperrealist one. Every painting presents us with infinite choices. In a way, painting might never feel done.
Painting this painting reminded me of what making art is. A visual math. A struggle. But it is a good kind of struggle. A struggle that makes us grow. Every painting teaches us something and that's a beautiful thing. Life is struggle. To leave art to a machine (that steals art from living artists btw) defeats the whole purpose of creation.
AI art is not art. It is antithesis of art. It is antithesis of life. AI art is death. Death of creativity, death of human spirit, death of beauty. What is stolen cannot be truly beautiful. I said what I had on this topic, so I won't say more for now. I simply cannot understand how people continue to use it. AI to me looks so creepy. Plus, using AI is incredibly bad for the environment.
We create because we are human. Because we have ourselves been created. Because we are born of creation and return to it. Don't leave the creativity to machines. If you don't use your creativity you loose it. Not everyone has to paint or to do something artistic, but everyone can be creative- unless you let the machines do you creativity for you.
A bit more about this painting. I used a lot of yellow. I keep adding more and more. The yellow did not feel like too much. You would think that it would. Colour theory is a fascinating field. There is so much to learn about colour.
Working on pebbles was also enjoyable albeit also difficult. I work on pebbles when I paint seascapes, so you could say that was practice for this riverscale.
There are many ways to inspire creativity. One of them can be as simple as going for a walk. So, what did I wear for a lovely walk near Buna river. Well, I wore something cute, of course. This was a comfy Spring styling that also felt chic. Let us talk about this outfit for a moment. I'm loving the braids, I must say. You can see more ways to style braids with a purple satin cord in this post. Adding a satin ribbon when one does one's braids helps define them but it can also be good for securing them. By watching art and history channels on YouTube I learned that women used to often use ribbons when braiding their hair. They would use a piece of fabric or a ribbon to both braid and secure their hair in place. It works, it's practical and it looks nice. Highly recommended.
The story of my outfit or How I wore these items before?
Yes, it is time for sustainable fashion files. I show you how I styled these items before.
The black blazer - handmade for me by a local seamstress/ designer Izeta
5-6) See how I wore this tailored suit multiple times in this post.
7) See how I wore this black blazer with a cherry print dress here.
8) See how I wore it with a parsley ruffled skirt twice in this post.
9) See how I wore it with matching pants (part of the suit) and a white shirt in this post.
The lilac shirt- from a local designer Stanka Zovko, brand Ozz
The striped mini skirt- from Zara
The burgundy tights- no name, old
The black kitten heels- no name, old
1) See how I styled these black leather kitten heels with a vintage midi skirt and a grey top, and a black blazer here.
2-5) In this post, I showed you how I wore these black heels with four black and white outfits.
6) In this post, I showed you how I styled this pair of kitten heels with an olive green skirt and a tartan red alpine pro jacket.
7) See how I wore these kitten heels with a golden dress and a burgundy blazer in this 2025 post for a book review of novel Isabel by Guy Gavriel Kay.
8) See how I wore them with a grey dress and green blazer in 2025 for a ferry ride.
The red leather bag- a gift from a friend.
8) In this 2025 post, I wore it with a pink polka dot dress.
9) It was also worn with a floral print ruffled mini dress in 2025.
I visit Buna village all the time, but I don't always post it. Generally, I started posting less on my blog. Still, I keep all the photographs. So, who knows maybe you will get to see all the visits after all? Anyhow, my last published visit to Buna on my blog was on the first of December 2024.
I posted on this same bridge then, even if it was not completed then. There were some works in this recreational area. New bridges were built, a couple of them actually. The place I painted is a little bit different now as well. You can visit the links below to find out more about Bunica river and Buna.
I browsed my blog and found 57 posts shot at Buna! Some of them are travel posts, while others are outfit posts. Some are the mix of two. I sure visit this place a lot. I talk a lot about sustainable fashion, but sustainable tourism is important to me as well. Revisiting places means a lot to me.
48) https://modaodaradosti.blogspot.com/2024/10/shadow-and-bone-by-leigh-bardugo-book.html
SUMMER 2023 In Buna. Visit my blog to find out more!
LOCATION: BUNA NEAR MOSTAR TWO LOCATIONS: BUNA AND MOSTAR
Older visits to Buna: For example in 2013, I showed you a photograph I took of a beautiful bird Euroasian Hoopoe. The same year, I showed you the spring of river Buna that is said to be the most powerful spring in Europe. If, you want to see more of this place, you can read about one of my earliest visits here (2013), you can see an outfit post with Buna in the background here (2013), you can read about spring time and my love of flowers here (2017), you can read about my most recent visit here (2017), you can read about winter magic in Buna revisited post here (2016), you can read about summer magic here (2015). Below you can find even more links to some of my older posts about Buna and my visits to this place: April 6th, 2013, November 28th, 2016, May 16th, 2017, June 10th, 2018, January 24th, 2018, May 18th, 2018, March 20th, 2019, March 27th, 2019
I'm really adding a lot of links to this posts, but it is to show that you can be sustainable in many ways. You can be sustainable by respecting your local community. You can boost local tourism. You can be a tourist in the country you live in. You can do sustainable fashion by supporting your local artisans, seamstresses and fashion designers. You can do sustainable fashion by shopping your closet.
The great thing about sustainable living is that there truly are so many ways to do it. I think it's time for all of us to step away from the materialism we live in and realize that the real wealth lives within.
Let us treasure what we have. Clothes we have. Destinations near by. Nature that sustain us. Let us be grateful and open hearted. Let us think more about what we have and less about what we would want to buy. Let us be greatful!
Sets are great because you can always wear them both together and apart. For example this time I wore a shirt from this Ozz set, but often I wear the skirt as well. The links below prove that:
1) OZZ STUDENTS' FASHION SHOW, MENTOR FASHION DESIGNER STANKA 2) FASHION ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: STANKA ZOVKO SET 3) AN ANNIVERSARY OUTFIT: STANKA ZOVKO LILAC DRESS AND SKIRT
Check out my other Travel With My Art post:
I also have videos now if you want to see more of this painting and the place that inspired it! On recommendation of Vix from Vintage Vixen, I included some videos of the places I visit and where I live!
As always, thank you for reading and visiting!
Buna and Bunica are such beautiful rivers surrounded by beautiful nature that it doesn't surprise me why you keep coming back to them. There aren't many such wonderful places so close to a big city, so you are blessed to have them in your vicinity. The picture you drew is so lifelike that it looks like a photograph to me and it's clear to me that you wanted it to turn out perfect. I would love to visit this treasure of nature and enjoy its beauty. Have a blessed Sunday morning 🤗🌹
ReplyDeleteI forgot to write that you look beautiful 🤩
DeleteThanks :)
DeleteThat painting is absolutely magical, Ivana, and it was interesting to follow your creative journey! xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you so much. :)
DeleteGreat art Ivana and lovely outfit :-D
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteYour outfit with the red bag looks great.
ReplyDeleteI love your art. Your paintings are so powerful and serene at the same time, simply beautiful.
Thank you !
DeleteIvana, beautiful photographs and charming paintings!
ReplyDeleteThank you !
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