(Irina Stel)

Realism That Lives in the Heart

by Pam North

Talented soft sculpture artist Irina Stel resides in the town of Reinbek, located in the Stormarn district in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, within the metropolitan region of Hamburg. A mother of two children and a grandmother of three grandchildren, Irina formerly was a teacher by profession, but she had to leave her profession due to a change of residence, and a change of language for communication. 
From early childhood, she loved to draw, attended children's art circles, and loved animals very much. She also discovered that the ecological situation on our planet unfortunately is not changing for the better, and the life of many animals of rare species is endangered. “Therefore, our task is to save rare animals from extinction,” she stated strongly. “We followed the anti-taxidermy direction, making absolutely realistic animals, but only from artificial fur and only synthetic materials. I started this craft in 2019. After seeing photos of very realistic animals made of faux fur, I was fascinated by this idea, and I began to search for information on this topic. I found several masters who had already worked in this field, and I began to study diligently. The very first animals I created participated in an exhibition in Germany in the city of Essen. They took the first and third places in the competition, and my animals and I received honorary diplomas.”
While Irina has been creating realistic animals from faux fur just since 2019, preceding this type of creativity she went through an active search for herself and her own unique artistic expression by working in a variety of media: painting portraits, sculpting, and working with wood and glass. She mastered all types of her endeavors. “That's why my animals look so realistic,” she explained, “because to paint the eyes for an animal, to blend shades of the claws, to achieve an accurate resemblance from a photograph - I have already done all this more than once, painting portraits of people, sculpting flowers of varying complexity. In reading the reviews from my favorite collectors in all corners of our beloved planet, I have been paid the compliment  that my animals are the highlight decoration of their collections, and have an aesthetic and therapeutic effect in their lives.”
Irina challenged herself further with each successive animal, learning innovative new techniques to portray creatures as they became more difficult, more interesting, more lifelike. “I am especially influenced by communication with my collectors,” she continued. “All of them are very different.
Among them are very sick and disabled people, whose lives are very limited and poor; there are very lonely people; there are people who cannot keep live animals due to allergies or other constraints. All of them are united by their love for my animals made of artificial fur. These animals help to comfort, entertain, and give my collectors the strength to live and enjoy life.”
Irina’s animals are made of high-quality artificial fur, and since they are made only from artificial materials, her animals also are hypoallergenic. She achieves mobility by using a plastic skeleton inside so that the animals may be changed into and hold various positions. “My execution techniques are very complex,” she explained, “in my efforts to ensure that those collectors living with my animals almost get the feeling of communicating with living beings. The posture of a young cheetah conveys the dynamics of movement; he looks like as if he is ready to jump. My animals are very realistic, which is enhanced by their ability to assume different natural poses, and they have a high level of expression. I pay special attention to details: the eyes look very lively (the eyes are the mirror of the soul); if I make an animal with an open mouth, then I mold teeth, gums, and make a soft tongue. The open mouth of my raccoon is a very difficult job; when I did it, I felt like a dentist! Paw pads are detailed and soft. For the manufacture of my animals, I use only the best materials: natural-looking artificial fur, glass, polymer clay, silicone, plastic skeletons, water-based paints, synthetic filler, epoxy, metal, wood, gypsum, and many, many other materials. My workshop is like a warehouse of a large enterprise; everything is there that I could possibly need.”
When she starts working on a new animal, she shows how the work is progressing on the social networks, such as Instagram and Facebook. Her viewers often have different ideas and purposes: to buy for their own collections, to make a gift to a loved one, or some collectors simply wish to observe the creative processes for the sake of aesthetic pleasure. Those collectors who buy her animals, receiving them by mail, generously share their emotions and reactions with her, often writing letters to her. “This is the most valuable thing for which I work.” she said. “If my creations make people become happy, help their depression or loneliness subside, then I work not in vain.”
There are many human interest stories connected with Irina’ s animals. In one instance, a husband had Irina make a dog that looked like theirs that had died, hoping to please and comfort his wife; now the dog will forever remain with his mistress. A raccoon is in the house of a woman who is very ill after suffering a stroke, and who experienced a bereavement in the death of a very close friend; the raccoon for her brings a smile and a path to a good mood. A dog now is with a disabled woman with a very rare handicap of having very short arms; because of this, she is afraid of live dogs, because when they are happy they jump, and she cannot protect herself with her short arms. She really wanted to have a dog, so she ordered an animal made of faux fur from Irina.
Irina shared her  vision. “I would really like my business to be viable and continue, so that people can afford to buy a friend made of faux fur, and do not suffer for making that choice. It should not have to be a choice between buying a friend or buying food. I am wishing and hoping that the economic situation in the world will change for the better, so that people do not have to choose between something they have to have and something they would love to have. I wish us all peace and goodness. To all creative people, I wish wonderful, rich ideas and the possibility of their implementation.”
Collectors are invited to visit her website stores and choose an animal made by her for  their own collections. If the animal has already been sold, then they can write to her to discuss the possibility of ordering. “I wish them a pleasant viewing!” Irina said.
Contact Information:
Name: Irina Stel
Email: irinastel@yahoo.de
https://stel.tedsby.com
https://www.bearpile.com/Stel7
https://www.instagram.com/deine_geschenkidee/
https://irinastel-meinekunst.hpage.com/
By visiting her pages, customers can contact by writing a message to her.