Maria Maneva expresses her ideas through natural materials with the ease other artists use brushes and paints. And if for most of us seashells and pebbles are only a memory of our summer vacation, Maria Maneva views them as a source of art.
Their natural beauty and brilliance is due to the use of colorless varnish, Maria Maneva explains. “We don’t notice the lifeless shells lying on the sand under our feet until a sea wave washes them clean. Then they show us their incredible brilliance. The same happens in this art, Gabrovo-born artist Maria went on to say.”
It all started when destiny took her to the Black Sea capital Varna. “Life took me to Varna and God blessed me with this art, because I knew nothing about it”, Maria Maneva said in an interview for Radio Bulgaria:
“I saw sea mosaic in 2008 for the first time. After I made my first attempts in this field, I developed my own mixed technique. My works of art contain mussels, pebbles, seashells with natural colors. I use sand for background. I color the sand to make the work look more expressive. Thus, I give my painting dimension.”
Maria admits that most of her paintings contain motifs of flowers and birds. “The inspiration comes from the material itself. When I collect or sort them, an image of a flower or a bird’s wing appears in front of me. I try to recreate them as close to reality as possible and work with their natural shape and color. My paintings have become more precise and beautiful over the years”, Maria Maneva said further.
The artist has participated at several joint and solo exhibitions. In her words, her husband is her biggest admirer and her daughter, who studies at the National School of Arts “Dobri Hristov” in Varna, does not spare her criticism. As for the coronavirus pandemic, which radically changed people’s lives, Maria says the following:
“I worked very hard during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The new situation did not affect my psyche. On the contrary, I was even more active and ambitious, because I work alone anyway.
People engaged in this type of art are working alone and long hours. May we all rejoice in divine health! Hopefully, the pandemic will soon be over and those who suffered from this illness recover, because health is the most important thing in life”, the artist went on to say and added: “I pray for peace and love in the families, especially in the days of isolation, because the family has a very important role in society. Let’s help each other and do good!”
English version: Kostadin Atanasov
Photos: courtesy of Maria Maneva
On November 6 at 4 p.m., an exhibition will open at the Archaeological Exhibition of the Regional History Museum in Burgas on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the rescue archaeological research by specialists from the Burgas Museum of a rich grave..
Australian author Joanna Murray-Smith is coming to Sofia at the invitation of the Nikolay Binev Youth Theater. She is visiting Bulgaria for the first time between November 5 and 9, 2025 for a specially organized "Panorama of Joanna Murray-Smith", which..
On the eve of one of the brightest Bulgarian holidays – the Day of the National Awakeners, the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London welcomed the guests of the Bulgarian National Radio in a meeting-conversation with Bulgarian poet Mirela Ivanova,..
To mark the 65th anniversary of the Cuban animation studio Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), Bulgarian director Andrey..
On 12 November at 5:30 p.m., Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, will give a lecture in the Marin Drinov Hall of the Bulgarian..
On this day five years ago (in 2020), a memorial plaque dedicated to the world-renowned Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov (1929–2004) was unveiled in Modena...
Partly Cloudy
Cloudy
Mostly Cloudy