Expat-run art studio opens first student exhibition

An autumn pear from the point of view of a child, an outstretched arm brushes up against the face of a naked woman - these are just two of the over twenty perspectives put onto canvas by students of the expat-run Szív Studios at its first exhibition, opening on Thursday, November 8 at 5pm in the nearby Pótkulcs bar.

Top: Monika Jones; Bottom: Sziv Studios

(Top) Péter Fekete's piece, made from graphite on paper, Fekete is a regular to Szív Studios' Friday night nude drawing class. (Bottom) 8-year old Sara poses with her just-finished pastel drawing of fruit.

Szív Studios started not long after director Paula Brett moved to Budapest in September 2006. She and fellow artist Leah Kohlenberg, both American, began giving painting lessons to their English-speaking friends over drinks and conversation in Kohlenberg's living room.

"When we started, the wine was really important because we were all friends," says Kohlenberg. But before long, easels began to outnumber chairs. In January 2007, Brett decided to open a proper studio, with the help of Kohlenberg and Hungarian-American Krisztina Rozanich. Within weeks, she says, classes were full. "I couldn't believe it, I was teaching all the classes and they were full, it seems there was a gap in the market," says Brett. "I was amazed."

She hired more instructors and now Szív Studios offers four courses in 6-week terms for Ft 27,000 (€100) in painting, drawing, pastels and multi-media. Fees do not include materials. Students are English-speaking expats living in Budapest from Serbia, Ireland, France, Russia, America, Great Britain, as well as Hungarians ranging from children to those in their fifties and sixties.

In more ways than one, the school stays true to its living-room roots, says Kohlenberg, who teaches pastel drawing. Housed in a cozy apartment on Szív utca new faces have mixed with the first expat artists, including 8-year old pastel artist Sára Graning. "People flow; circulate in and out depending on who is around. We now have a great space and are able to foster that ongoing sense of home-grown community," Kohlenberg says.

One new comer who has made an impression is Péter Fekete, a British-Hungarian sculptor who runs an Internet company. He met Brett at an English poetry reading and decided to attend an open drawing course with a nude model on Friday nights and has kept going. The evening is unique among the courses offered because there is a half an hour of shared wine and conversation beforehand, and no formal lesson - simply free-paint time. Fekete described it as "lovely," and the school "well organized," adding, "it is nice to find an artist community here among the expats."

And in his opinion, taking two hours to breathe in and sketch out a nude model gives more life to a representation than a snapshot. "[Art is] more difficult than taking a photograph, it is the real thing. Your powers of observation have to be much greater and your concentration is key," he says. "Art is an active process. You have to work. You can't just lie back and let it happen to you."

Two of his pieces, along with other students' work, are framed and hung on Pótkulcs' walls; some pieces are for sale, priced at approximately €50 and €300 (Ft Ft 12,500 - Ft 76,000).

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