Now on my seventh X , I would briefly describe my life so far as a very happy, beautiful and successful one.
After a happy and joyful childhood, thanks to the diligence and perseverance of my parents and grandparents, who, in the difficult post-war years, started their life again in a small village in Vojvodina, in the trade.
I was given a wonderful youth, in freedom, in a developing country (Yugoslavia), where multi-ethnicity taught me to accept and appreciate others, to learn about different cultures, and even to learn Slavic.
This culture helped me to really feel at home in Europe, my first discovery as an architect was Italian old architecture and fine art, followed by the works of the Paris Impressionists in person.
I was also very influenced by my further travels throughout Europe, to Austria, Germany, Spain and even the Netherlands.
In my high school years I got to know and understand the greats of Hungarian poetry, with Ady at the forefront, and then in painting, Mednyánszky, Szőnyi, Fényes, Ferenczy, were among the first.
The musical revolution of that time, the beginning of the Beat era, gave me a great impetus and strength, launched me into life with a capital "L".
The beginning of my youth, as I said, the 70s were incredibly beautiful, I was working in an architectural design company, my work was appreciated, I was earning well, I had a car, a flat, a rich multi-ethnic circle of friends, in Zenta, a very nice town on the banks of the Tisza.
I was "seduced" by a pretty and beautiful Serbian girl, for whom I gave up my bohemian life, which included even post-race.
Besides my work (design), freehand drawing and painting became my favourite pastime.
I studied painting privately at the Teacher Training College in Novi Sad, although I didn't get a degree, it wasn't my goal, but I was able to learn all the techniques of fine arts with the help of teachers.
This is how it started. Painting began to suppress my dreams of architecture.
The artists' colony in Zenta, which has successfully wormed its way into the hearts of the residents, thanks to the painter József Ács, who ran the colony for many years, and Géza Tripolszky, the director of the museum, has also had a great influence on me, and I have been invited to the meetings every year.
Sándor Torok and István Szajkó introduced me to the dry pastel technique and made me love it forever. The year was 1983.
My wife and I opened the first private gallery in Vojvodina.
Unfortunately, our joy and success in organising exhibitions and selling artworks lasted only until the painful Balkan war.
In 1993 we moved to Hungary. We had no language problems, because my wife Buba had spoken our language since she was a child.
But there were enough problems. Starting a new life in a new country at 45 is not easy, I can tell you.
The last thing I expected was that the pastel technique would be the problem, since "Pósa" has become a household name in Vojvodina, thanks to the pastel.
Pastel is a great way to create incredibly subtle, lyrical paintings, especially on black cardboard, using the soft chalks, while the harder ones can be used to add a drawing touch. So the creation becomes a painting, not just a drawing, or printmaking.
The Hungarian artists did not use either the excellent chalks or the black cardboard until I and my two colleagues, Torok and Szajkó, told them the secrets of the technique. That is why my paintings became uniquely different in Hungary.
In the difficult beginning, we were helped through by a few "travelling" galleries, selling my work in many cities around the country and introducing it to an art-loving public.
It was also a turning point in my creative work here, when I was asked by a publishing house in Budapest to write a book on pastel, which would introduce this technique step by step and encourage beginners to create.
I can say that the book became a "bestseller", and many people in the country got to know my works as well. ((Cser publisher: Ede Pósa - THE TITLES OF PASTELL-FESTIVAL - 2011)
In a word or two, my paintings are realistic works based on my own vision, informed by architecture, with lyrical colours, landscapes, still lifes, street scenes.
At the opening of one of my exhibitions ( Lönchard F.) it was said that all my works are poems, and if I didn't paint, I would (perhaps) write poems in this mood.
Forty years of work have resulted in the creation of thousands of paintings, but I am pleased to say that very few of those years remain in our home. However, I can boast of 5-6 enthusiastic collectors.
I was known as a landscape painter from the lowlands, but I am also very happy that our bumpy journey in our new country brought us to a wonderful landscape, the shores of Lake Balaton. The warm colours of the lowlands have been replaced by the cooler colours of Lake Balaton, so characteristic of the region.
I am happy and joyful that my life has been filled with painting and I am grateful to the creator for giving me the talent to use it to make a living, to live a carefree beautiful life with my wife. True with much diligence and dedication, which in turn has never been a burden to me.
The joy of creating is an indescribable experience for a human being and it is even more beautiful, much more beautiful, if your creations are enjoyed by others, they are happy to take them into their homes, assuring me, us creators, that we will be remembered for a long time to come!
HU