PANCHO MALENZANOV was born in 1964 and started painting seriously at age 15, when he was accepted into the School for Applied Arts in his hometown Sofia.

"Painting has been always my 'calling'," he says. "In my teenage years I was strongly influenced by the Bulgarian artists Greddy Assa, Roumen Rachev, and Hundertwasser. My first paintings were mostly abstract landscapes, painted with oil and pastel. For me, nature is large part of my inner peace; therefore painting nature brought out my 'self.' I would dare to call them ‘flying landscapes'. I see most images in my head from a bird's point of view. Also, for me, the presence and inspiration of a loved one plays an important role, and it is then that I do my best work."

Malenzanov also paints "machineries": laptops, airplanes, boats, and submarines, with a special vision on how to incorporate those objects. "Music plays a very important role in my life and work : Jazz gives me a lot, so I feel obligated to 'give back' to jazz through my paintings."

His graphic designs and logos can be seen on major ads and publications in Bulgaria.

STOIMEN STOILOV, was born in Varna in 1944 and is a graduate of the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia. He leads his visual articulations with a Surrealist nature. With much affection, Stoilov believes line to be a justified dominating force, and his visions are rich with symbolism and indigenous history. His poetic visions encourage viewers to imagine mythic traditions and lore. He spent time living among the Aborigines in Australia, one of the many cultural influences in his work. In 1991, The University of Vienna awarded him the Gottfried Von Herder Prize for completed works. His work resides in the collections of many museums around the world, and can be seen at the National Museum of Art in Columbia, the Museum of Art Villa Merkel in Germany, the National Gallery of Art in Norway, the Pushkin Museum of Art in Russia, Museum of Art of Switzerland, and the United States Library of Congress.

Poetry Reading: Sunday, June 26, 4 to 6 PM
by Bulgarian poet VALENTIN KRUSTEV.

The poet VALENTIN KRUSTEV was born in 1949 in Bulgaria, "the small piece of paradise on the Balkans." He is a Law graduate from the Sofia University, poet and has translated from and into English of over 20 published books of fiction and 2 of poems, among which are "Less than One" by J. Brodsky, "Lucy Crown" by Irwin Shaw , "The Bottom of the Hat", and poems by Tanya Kolyovska, edited by Richard Harteis.

QUESTIONS by Valentin Krustev

The sky -
What is the sky?
"I don't know",
the ant responded,
"I can't creep upon it."

The sea -
What is the sea?
"I know", the frog croaked
from her frond,
"the sea is a pond."

Poetry Reading: Sunday, June 26, 4 to 6 PM