In November 2022, baker Svetlana Astafieva and I organised an art and educational venture called Bread in Butter at the mArs Art Space, in the city of St Petersburg.

         
The schedule of events was very extensive.
My 29 oil paintings on canvas were exhibited in the gallery from 21 November to 2 December. The solo exhibition included works in the genre of still life in the styles of realism and hyper-realism. During this time, my friend Svetlana, a professional baker, held several tastings of her products. These included homemade marshmallows, delicious gingerbread, Lenten vegetarian pastries, cupcakes, biscuits, profiteroles and more. The buffets at the opening and closing ceremonies attracted many guests, fans of both my painting and freshly baked pastries!

   

On one day there were quizzes and contests for children, with sweets being handed out. A drawing on social media resulted in two of my photographic paintings being given away at the exhibition’s closing ceremony.
I received a lot of positive feedback from visitors and the gallery administration and curator liked the exhibition so much they suggested extending the exhibition for another week.
I painted the oil on canvas “Still Life with Pumpkin Bread” especially for this event. The painting is for sale and you can see more details of the work here.

I am very pleased that the baker Svetlana Astafieva suggested and helped to organize our joint project, where still life style painting and delicious pastries complemented each other so harmoniously!