Miniaturist artist Salavat Fidai
When 42-year-old Salavat Fidai left the large trading company he became … a freelance artist. According to him, he was just tired from the office. So, he moved with his family to the village, where he organized a workshop and began to create. As a child Salavat was fond of woodcarving, thanks to his parents, professional artists and teachers. In particular, his mom taught fine arts for children, and his father was the director of a correctional school. Of course, they instilled in Salavat a love for art. Although he wanted to enter the art Institute but failed, and studied to become a lawyer. Once, jokingly, he painted a portrait of Van Gogh on a matchbox. And for instance, art captivated him again. First, he began painting miniatures on pumpkin seeds, then sunflower seeds, and on a grain of rice. By the way, it takes Salavat from 6 to 12 hours of hard work to carve a miniature sculpture on the tip of a pencil. Today, works by Salavat Fidai are known to art collectors worldwide.

Sifnos. Greece. (Running girl) size 30x40cm oil. Color interpretation of famous photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Miniaturist artist Salavat Fidai. The painting is in a private collection.

For such a small and hard work the artist uses a large magnifying glass, cutter and thin brush. “in every job I invest part of my soul. At the moment, I carved out about 40 pencils. For one carving I spend from 6 to 12 hours. Particularly complex sculptures take 2-3 days, with breaks. Painting on seeds takes 3-4 hours, although I painted mini-replica of “Red vineyards” by Van Gogh for 3 days”.

Salavat Fidai was born in 1972 in the village of Iglinsk district of Bashkotarstan, Russia.

Miniaturist artist Salavat Fidai

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