Carolinda Tolstoy

Sources of Inspiration

Although English by birth and upbringing it is perhaps because of Carolinda Tolstoy's Greek ancestors that she is instinctively attracted to the arts and crafts of the Middle East and Morocco. Carolinda has travelled extensively through Iran, Turkey, Russia and Greece, amongst others, absorbing the influences of different countries whose artistic traditions are linked by a shared history of pattern and colour.

These are the sources of inspiration for her own work and the patterns and colours of her stylised decoration and Islamic inspired ceramic pieces are her own interpretation of the arts of other countries.

Discovering the work of Persia in a book, subsequent visits to Iran deepened her knowledge and understanding of Persian art and culture. She is particularly drawn to Safavid Period (AD 1500-1600), whose artists were the Shah's court painters. This time can best be described as the 'Renaissance of Persia'. Much of the decorative work from the Safavid period was itself inspired by silk made by the Armenian silk traders. It is the richness of the borders and the backgrounds of the illuminations, and the exotic colour - fluid gold, turquoise blue and vivid pink - found in clouds and carpets that first inspired Carolinda. These are the colours that she continues to use in her work.

On her travels she sketches things that touch her visually and emotionally - landscape in Tunisia, textiles in Morocco or architectural mouldings in Greece. These sketches are her 'aide-memoires', jogging her memory when she returns to her studio in London. Ideas are adapted, moving away from the original, developing spontaneously over months, even years, into ceramic form and decoration and textile decoration. Carolinda rarely refers to her sketches once in the studio. It is enough that she did them and she relies on memory to evoke the essence that she seeks to capture.

Reluctant to question or analyse, Carolinda is nevertheless aware of the importance of her observations. She says that she is very much affected by her environment. She feels at her most creative and ideas come in quick succession when she is in Greece, where she spent many summers in her childhood. England is where ideas are realised and made.

Carolinda feels that it is important to keep artistically active wherever she is, so away from the studio she keeps her mind on design and her hand practising brushwork by decorating textiles, shoes, even walls. Moving from one medium to another allows her to develop a versatility of design. She enjoys the immediacy of colour the paint provides in contrast to the restrictions of the ceramic palette and technique.

Carolinda is unusual in that, subconsciously, she has immersed herself in the art of other cultures. In no way copying what she has seen, her work is very much an individual interpretation of all that she has absorbed: an amalgam of Middle Eastern traditions and modern methods and philosophies. As Carolinda says of her work, 'I am totally absorbed and fascinated uniquely'.

Carolyn Genders
From ‘Sources of Inspiration’, (A & C Black 2002)

	Sources of Inspiration Although English by birth and upbringing it is perhaps because of Carolinda Tolstoy's Greek ancestors that she is instinctively attracted to the arts and crafts of the Middle East and Morocco. Carolinda has travelled extensively through Iran, Turkey, Russia and Greece, amongst others, absorbing the influences of different countries whose artistic traditions are linked by a shared history of pattern and colour. These are the sources of inspiration for her own work and the patterns and colours of her stylised decoration and Islamic inspired ceramic pieces are her own interpretation of the arts of other countries. Discovering the work of Persia in a book, subsequent visits to Iran deepened her knowledge and understanding of Persian art and culture. She is particularly drawn to Safavid Period (AD 1500-1600), whose artists were the Shah's court painters. This time can best be described as the 'Renaissance of Persia'. Much of the decorative work from the Safavid period was itself inspired by silk made by the Armenian silk traders. It is the richness of the borders and the backgrounds of the illuminations, and the exotic colour - fluid gold, turquoise blue and vivid pink - found in clouds and carpets that first inspired Carolinda. These are the colours that she continues to use in her work. On her travels she sketches things that touch her visually and emotionally - landscape in Tunisia, textiles in Morocco or architectural mouldings in Greece. These sketches are her 'aide-memoires', jogging her memory when she returns to her studio in London. Ideas are adapted, moving away from the original, developing spontaneously over months, even years, into ceramic form and decoration and textile decoration. Carolinda rarely refers to her sketches once in the studio. It is enough that she did them and she relies on memory to evoke the essence that she seeks to capture. Reluctant to question or analyse, Carolinda is nevertheless aware of the importance of her observations. She says that she is very much affected by her environment. She feels at her most creative and ideas come in quick succession when she is in Greece, where she spent many summers in her childhood. England is where ideas are realised and made. Carolinda feels that it is important to keep artistically active wherever she is, so away from the studio she keeps her mind on design and her hand practising brushwork by decorating textiles, shoes, even walls. Moving from one medium to another allows her to develop a versatility of design. She enjoys the immediacy of colour the paint provides in contrast to the restrictions of the ceramic palette and technique. Carolinda is unusual in that, subconsciously, she has immersed herself in the art of other cultures. In no way copying what she has seen, her work is very much an individual interpretation of all that she has absorbed: an amalgam of Middle Eastern traditions and modern methods and philosophies. As Carolinda says of her work, 'I am totally absorbed and fascinated uniquely'. Carolyn Genders From ‘Sources of Inspiration’, (A & C Black 2002)

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Sources of Inspiration