My grandfather always told me to do everything in time. He was a man of few wasted words, and this was one of his quiet wisdoms — not a lecture, just a truth he had learned from a life lived close to the land. The hay can’t be made in winter. There is no one who gathers mushrooms in spring. Nature has a strict and unforgiving plan, and it does not negotiate. Miss the moment, and the moment is simply gone. No second chances, no catching up — just the empty field and the lesson.

Yesterday I started the story about Crimea, the real piece of paradise on earth.  Cape Martyan was at the very beginning and then we moved to Hurzuf, a small town that is so loved by artists.

The first time I visited Crimea being a school boy. Having won the reginal competition in history I was invited to attend the summer camp “Artek”. “Artek” is a one of the most popular camps in the whole post-soviet part. It works the whole year round and thousands of children visit it during the year. Being in Artek I fell in love with the beautiful Crimea. I was so fascinated by its nature, prominent palaces, in which trying to hear you’ll definitely hear the sounds of the Vienna waltz.

..Fighting for freedom! I still remember the moment I heard it for the first time. Being a small child I was walking in forest together with my grandfather.

These days I’m coming back in time — revisiting paintings that were created long ago, works that carry a different kind of weight simply because of where I was when I made them. There is something quietly profound about returning to your own past through the language you know best: paint and brushstroke.

Some things take time. Real time. Not the rushed, compressed, deadline-driven kind — but the slow, patient, unhurried time that a project of genuine meaning quietly demands. And sometimes, looking back at where something began, the distance traveled is almost difficult to believe.

The project that started in October 2013 is finally going to be finished.

Morning coffee today lasted longer than usual. A friend of mine came round to pick me up and leaving my place without a coffee was impossible. The talk drove into the family values and the role of parents.

Holidays time is going away and the Ukrainian Christmas carols that were still very sung yesterday are hardly to be heard. The time of becoming active in the studio has come.

The last several days, starting with the celebration of the New Year’s Eve were very useful. At last I had the rest I needed, I slept enough and my thuoghts had the vocation too. I rejected all the offers of celebrating New Year’s Eve somewhere outside Ukraine, and even in my city I didn’t have a strong desire to go out. That’s why we stayed at home, and this turned out to be the right decision.

We were alone and we really enjoyed our own company.

December is the last month of the year and my December is always very busy. It’s like the last chance to catch up with

the imaginative list of tasks for 2013 and tell to the self, “Look, I managed everything!”

My friend are thinking about celebrating of the New Year’s Eve. And I’m dreaming about a bed.