Interview. Becoming Acquainted

A sudden knocking at the door. We asked in the darkness who it was, got an answer and opened the door. Then we met her.

A bit later we were trying to examine pictures of her works in the light of two mobiles. Then the light was restored and we exclaimed "Hurrah!!!" in excitement.

And now the story as it should be - from the very beginning.

Today we met a lady whom many women living in our city would be happy to get acquainted with. Her name is Batsileva Svetlana. She has been living in Bratsk since 1967, attended school 9, graduated from a local technical university and presently works as an environment supervisor for a company that supplies the local Pulp and Solid Wood Products Mill with wood. On top of this and since she can remember herself, she has been always … working wonders.

And now our interviewing the lady:

Q - It is difficult to formulate the first question. A range of your embroidery applications and specialty works is so wide - manual and machine stitching with silk, complicated multicolor knitting, embroidering on knit clothes, beading. Please tell us what this all started from.

A - It was probably dictated by some special orientation of the stars above a small town about Leningrad where a little girl was born who did not want to be like others. I'm not boasting at all. Simply when I became older, I realized that a talent is given to you from on high and it won't let you live quietly in peace.

Q – But what is a talent?

A – I'm totally sure that a talent is feeling this world at a high level, it is a gift from god, a charisma. In Russian language we have two verbs - to see and to look. Some people look but they don't see. Others are able to see but they need to train this ability on a regular basis. A talent is a whimsical gift - it can disappear too!

Q – It is amazing how much of patience and hard-working is needed to create such things! Tell us about your work.

A – Patience and hard working is not my cup of tea. I simply want to create a beautiful thing. Willing and curiosity are best driving forces in any activity. At the pictures you can see things that were made in different techniques. Caps, a dress and a scarf were knit from beaded yarn. Mink hats were refashioned from originally brimmed hats. I cut the brims off and used them to make beautiful collars. Removed brim revealed suede to which I attached a knitted strip with beads. This all was very simple! As for stitching canvases - it is a totally different matter, a separate topic that involves many special tricks.

Q – Svetlana, what was the reason for your visiting us?

A - Imagine a typical winter evening here in Russia. 7 o'clock, darkness in the window, a "Criminal chronicle" on TV, followed by "Ments" (a police series). This is enough to cause a depressive mood. And tomorrow again back to work, then helping the kids with their homework and another horror TV movie or program before getting asleep. Quite a dull picture of an everyday routine!!! And this is the life the majority of Russian women have to lead. I have always tried to find and follow my way - first instinctively, later deliberately. In my school days I was often punished for being different. At thirty I promised myself to wear only beautiful clothes that nobody else possesses. It was a "right" thing to decide upon considering the time - the end of 80s when shelves of shops were empty and it was almost impossible to buy anything, including threads and yarn.

I don't like the word "hobby" - it sounds too foreign and obscure to the Russian ear. My activity is a part of myself, I can't live without it, even though I still wouldn't dare to devote whole my life and time to it. I work as a specialist on environment, I do love this work that I have been involved with since 1990.