One can clearly see the inspiration of his works – the romance of Crimea. His paintings are a fusion of real places (cozy streets, small yards, old houses, the mountains, the sea), of memories from the past and present, and his own imagination. What is important for Igor Shipilin is to translate the particular mood of Crimea. He has said to be creating the same work throughout his life, painting the same motif.

“My task is simple, to convey the image of old Crimea, comfort, and the warm blue sea”.

He paints things that have defined his life, closely intertwined with his experiences, with works of art becoming an extension of him. Sometimes they are spontaneous, at other times, a result of careful contemplation and a process spanning across years, as can be seen from some of the works displayed at the exhibition. The painting which earned him an award by the Russian Academy of Arts in the competition of “Artists of Russia for Clean Water” came about in an unusual way – originally a landscape of mountains, it did not sit well with the artist. He turned it upside down and discovered it would work better as a depiction of the black sea. Right he was! Sometimes, like in the case of “Persimmon has Ripened. November”, the painting is a result of a chance occurrence and a reminder of a heart-warming memory