The Gate

Nenad Pantic, Ireland

As a freelance artist, I specialize in traditional (watercolours, inks, pens, oils) and digital painting. Although I work full-time as a software engineer, creating art is my passion and I enjoy it in my free time. My artistic style is mostly inspired by fantasy masters like Brian Froud, Alan Lee, H.R. Giger, Studio Ghibli, J.R.R. Tolkien and Hieronymus Bosch. The book "Faeries" by Brian Froud and Alan Lee played a pivotal role in my decision to pursue art, as it introduced me to old Celtic myths. I am grateful to live in Kilcoole, which is rooted in the same mythological tradition and have done so for over eight years. My artistic work often reflects darker themes as a reflection of my philosophical ponderings. I am open to custom ideas, whether it be fantasy art, classical portraits, landscapes, illustration (in the past, I have illustrated many books, mostly aimed at teenagers) or a combination of them. I am also eager to showcase my work in local galleries or art exhibitions. As a member of both VAI (Visual Artist Ireland) and AOI (Association of Illustrators), I am committed to pursuing my passion for art. If you like my style, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Artist-to-artist foreword by Ivan Gregov, Academic Painter Who are wizards? It is said that they lived long ago, we know them from books. But are they among us too, and who could they be? Nenad Pantic is surely one of them. Not only in the sense that every painter is at the same time a kind of an alchemist; because out of little piles of minerals and earth of different hues, he creates two-dimensional worlds of illusion ( and out of lead of white pigment those most proficient literally get - gold!) Having knowledge of both Kalevala and Kabala, Edda and lore of Perun, and uniting it all, Nenad invokes visions of mystical quality and meaning. Visions which, in the ecstasy of creation, arise from the dark, stirring background - maybe his subconsciousness. Therefore those creations of the inner eye, made out of clusters of pigments dirty as clay, are not always completely under control. Just like Golem created by Loew, the creatures which inhabit them do not possess bodies of perfect anatomy and symmetry, but are sometimes monstrous, and the scenes become terrifying or even perilous for their creator and beholder. But we need not fear, as some creations are destroyed by the Wizard himself. Harmony of proportion, derived from the mysticism of golden section numbers does not resound in his paintings. It is rather a deep-sounding drum of the collective primordial consciousness of an Indo-European, which might be common to the wizard-painter and to his ancestor roaming the slopes of Ural three millenniums and 66 generations ago. Pulsing of the organic where human, vegetal and monstrous intertwine, just as in a medićval Nordic ornament, and which is occasionally inclined to become the rhythm of some grotesque engine. Colour is not a suitable medium here, or more precisely it is too compound. It is only a discretely used means in Pantic's dualistic world of light and darkness. Complementary colder tones, present in areas of slightly warmer colour such as the faces of the characters, underline uneasiness invoked by their gaze, as dissonant notes in the classical quality of these paintings. Since the beginning of his creative days, Pantic has been involved in a dialogue with another wizard, distant in both place and time, J.R.R. Tolkien. This dialogue can be regarded as Germanic to Slavonic. As if Nenad's Frodo and Sam came from any village in the Balkans, they are in a way different from the picture we get when reading the book. But he is not the demiurgic creator of Middle Earth, nor does he present the events from a chapter of the novel - the writer has already done both. As it is usual in his painting, he reveals deeper, elementary forces lying under the surface, which are contained in every ancient religion, myth or fairy tale, and also in Tolkien's work. The writer might be aware of them, the painter might not be, being thus the medium or valve through which they erupt to the surface. That indeed is the job of a wizard. Let the magic overwhelm you! Ivan Gregov Academic Painter