A Tale Of Two Russians

Let our artists rather be those who are gifted to discern the true nature of the beautiful and graceful.

Plato
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These are the amazing stories of Arina Gordienko and Vladimir Dukelski. The lives of these two people fascinate me because they are stories about surprises, the unexpected and the happy results of being uprooted and having one's life drastically changed.
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Arina Gordienko was born in a small remote village in for northern Russian, closer to Alaska than to Moscow. Wherever this little Cossack girl went she saw nothing but the fields of relentless arctic ice and snow. When she was 4 years old the family moved to the Ural Mountains. Upon awaking the first morning she was amazed to see, for the first time in her life, flowers. She was so astonished at the colors and so afraid they would be covered over by the whiteness of the snow she was used to that she went immediately to work trying to capture the colors before they disappeared. It was at that moment she became an artist

She painted everywhere she could, on walls, doors, furniture, fabrics, clothes. As she grew older she studied at art school and was very influenced by the Russian school of drawing and painting. Quite by accident she heard about the University of Arts in London, England. She applied, was accepted and eventually received a Masters in Fine Arts. Now she lives in England and exhibits in galleries in Europe and America.

" I believe that we all create the World within our energy and I do believe in the Power of the Universe."

Arina Gordienko
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Vladimir Dukelski was born in a railroad station in Minsk. His parents were of the nobility and he received a good education which included a lot of musical training. He began composing serious music at an early age, symphonies, concertos and other works.

When the Bolshevik Revolution came the family fled to Turkey were they lived for a year or so. They then found passage to New York where they passed through Ellis Island. In New York Vladimir met George Gershwin. That meeting changed his life.
Vladimir continued to write classical music, much of it was performed by famous orchestras. He wrote a ballet for Serge Diaghelev in Paris.

Vladimir served in the US Coast Guard during the war.

Under the influence of Gershwin Dukelski began writing popular music, songs, some Broadway Shows and some film music. He eventually became an American citizen under his new, now famous, name: Vernon Duke.

Autumn in New York
The gleaming roofs at sundown
Oh, Autumn in New York
It lifts you up when you run down.

Vernon Duke
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An artist is one who lives on the edge of discovery, who picks up the stone that others don't see, who dares to hear the silence and describe the invisible. An artist is one who must.

DB - The Vagabond
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