GRATITUDE Print

Aflatun Israilov is a self-taught professional seascape and landscape painter from Azerbaijan. ⠀ Before his art career, as a Master of sports Aflatun taught Jiu-Jitsu and Karate at local schools and had many young students all across Azerbaijan. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Inspired by the beauty of the Caspian Sea and swift mountain rivers of the Caucasus, he developed and patented a new Martial Arts style 'Su-Yolu', translated from Azeri as "Water flow". ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Water has always been a key element in his work. He made a transition to painting in 2010, when he first took a brush in the most challenging period in his life.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Aflatun's art is not just about seascapes. It conveys an intuitive feeling of nature's power and the Creator's immensity It unites opposites, showing human life is filled with challenges but that the sunshine always triumphs. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In his oil paintings the artist uses traditional multiple layer technique to show movement of water, at the same time doing it playfully in a 'loose' manner and improvising a lot. Aflatun’s ability to render colour and light is phenomenal. Water being one of the most difficult objects for a painter is shown in his work in many different ways. One is obvious - realism and endless love for the Caspian Sea are playfully and professionally embodied into Aflatun’s paintings. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Aflatun’s paintings are in private collections in America, Europe and Asia. Aflatun is a member of the Society of Azerbaijani artists, the International Guild of Realism, the American Society of Marine artists and has had numerous exhibitions across the world. He has also been a participant and winner of several international art contests in Russia, Italy, Luxembourg and other countries.