Even though the last days of August still offer some beams of sunshine, Sredets Hall in the Ministry of Culture is full of rain and fog. The gallery is hosting the anniversary exhibition of painter Nadka Trendafilova. The artist, who lives and works in Austria, decided to celebrate her 70th birthday with an exhibit of watercolours and woodcarvings, which will be on view until Sunday.

"Umbrellas", "Rain", "Clouds" and "Bad Weather" are some of the names of the paintings arranged in the gallery. The dark and gloomy colours of the works contrast with the whiteness of the hall's interior.

Trendafilova said that her works were an expression of her spiritual disposition. "I think that there are many problems in life so I symbolically convey them in my paintings by means of images of rain, clouds and umbrellas."

Born in Sofia in 1931, Trendafilova lost her hearing at the age of eight after she suffered from meningitis. In 1956 she graduated from the National Art Academy in Sofia with a major in illustration. She was taught by prominent Bulgarian artist Iliya Beshkov. Trendafilova illustrated cinema posters for 16 years. Her works have been exhibited in Washington, Ottawa, Madrid and Warsaw.

In 1980 her husband Marko Hadjiev, also an artist, emigrated to Austria and six years later Trendafilova followed him.

"I prefer to live in Bulgaria," the artist confessed and added that she was very happy to celebrate her anniversary in her home country. Trendafilova said she took the themes of her paintings from life because "landscapes are parts of life." Images of human faces and silhouettes dominate the works in her current exhibition. "Images are always more than landscapes in my works," the artist explained. "They express a particular state of spirit which is always my own state."

Although she specialized in illustration, Trendafilova turned to watercolour and decided to exhibit this art form in Bulgaria. Along with the watercolours, the exhibition includes six woodcarvings because working with wood is her new passion. "I am looking for other forms of expression," the artist said with a smile.

Her daily routine in Bulgaria focuses on woodcarving. She wakes up early in the morning and works on her wood sculptures until about noon. In the afternoons she goes out for long walks or goes to the gallery and meets people visiting her exhibition. In 2000 the Bulgarian public saw Trendafilova's first book of poetry, which also included some of her watercolours. All the poems were in Bulgarian because it is the only language she likes to write in.

Trendafilova's desire is to come back and live in Bulgaria. Maybe this desire has found place in her watercolour "A Bit of Blue Sky" which is among the few optimistic paintings in her current exhibition.