Midland is a beautiful city

Helen Polishuk Leave a comment

Since Midland was not far from where we first encountered Lake Huron in winter, we decided to visit it. I forgot to say that Penetanguishene the name is long and difficult for visitors to pronounce, so it was shortened by half and even the old name of the railway station was Penetang.

Midland is on the road to Penetanguishene.

That is, you need to drive through Midland to get to that city. Therefore, all roads lead to Midland. And although this city on the map is somehow nondescript and seemingly unremarkable. But this is the city with which the history of Huronia is connected. It is located south of the Georgian Bay’s 300 islands and is very economically developed.

Of course, when we went into the Midland Museum and saw those old photographs reflecting the former life of this city, I was very sorry that now there is no railroad to this wonderful place. But once it was the railroad that filled this area with life.
But the history of this place is connected with the history of the Hurons – a local Indian tribe that had a large settlement in this area and a developed economy and was engaged in the extraction of beaver fur, fur and grew corn.
The Huron tribe or otherwise called Wendat lived in this place. Due to diseases, wars and displacements, they migrated and now there are 5000 of them and their reservation is in Quebec. However, for us they left a reminder of themselves in the form of an Indian village, Huron village, which is in the Huron Museum.

I already wrote that we didn’t have to choose the time and weather, we used what we had and were very happy that the museum was open on Monday.
Yes, I want to note that it was in Canada that I fell in love with small towns for their museums.
No other large museum in Toronto has such a colorful exhibit. To see a real store from 1900, to see the design models of ships that sank in Lake Huron, to see the desks at which our great-grandmothers sat – it’s worth coming to the Huron Museum on Monday.

And the winter continued. And the snow fell, as if the gray sky had a hole and could not stop until it poured out all the snow. And there were snowstorms in places both on the road and in the field. But it was all worth it to get to this Huron village. The museum workers opened the door for us and we found ourselves behind a wooden fence in a small cozy settlement, which was all made of wood. In front of us there was a small roofed table made of thin tree branches and a log-hewn table, a half-hut, where people were apparently sitting. Further on there was a hut that went underground – the shaman’s house. The tribe’s shamans did not live in the village, but were in seclusion and came when called. The shaman’s house was half underground – I assume that this was for insulation from the cold and heat. In front of the entrance there were animal skins and some other symbols.

Huron/Wendat(Ouendat) Village

For tourists and visitors, everything is built like this, just so that we can see examples. Opposite the shaman’s house there was something like a wooden table covered with leaves and capes. Under it there was a hole and the remains of firewood. We were told that this was the place where the shaman treated people – they would put the sick person on top and light a fire underneath and fumigate. In our time, I do not know if such rituals exist, but I can confirm that many indigenous people study Indian medicine. Further on there is a large tall wooden house, because of which we came to see this village. The house is unique. It is built of large wooden beams. It has a solid foundation and a semi-oval high roof. That is, the roof arch is high. And when we entered this winter blizzard weather, when we were covered with snow in this dwelling, then all the fuss, all the bad weather remained outside the doors. Inside the house there are two floors. In the middle between rests of the fire – they cooked food and warmed themselves there. On these floors, on wooden crossbars, people slept. Wooden houses are very long and high. And in Indian villages there were up to 50 of them. Sometimes even more. All such villages were necessarily built near water, reservoirs, rivers and lakes. Inside the houses there are beaver skins. And for some reason they made me sad that this served as a source of wars and the death of tribes because at some time in history it became a value and they fought, killed and pursued them. Beaver skins were most prized. Also, when the first settlers came to this peninsula and met these tribes, they saw women dressed in rich fur clothes, in beautifully sewn fur decorations and decorated with gold jewelry. After that, a stream of hunters and traders came here This disrupted the normal life of people. Changed. Changed forever. It is also interesting to note that the Indians exchanged skins for glass beads and iron products for growing corn. When burying the dead, they placed glass beads and iron vessels, shovels, knives next to the deceased. This was considered wealth and honor. There are such glass beads in the jewelry of local tribes. Well, today I want to thank them for the fact that thanks to these tribes, corn was brought to Europe. And to this day, the cultivation of corn is a priority for local residents and their pride. Although corn is a difficult crop to grow, it is multifaceted and good for both livestock farming and food. Its production and cultivation brings profit and helps the circulation of rural producers. Today in Europe it competes with the production of wheat and even surpasses it. The Indians also grew tobacco and were engaged in fishing and hunting. The communities were mostly vegetarians. Only in winter, during the hunting season, did they eat meat. Basically, their food consisted of plant and fish.
In the history of Midland there is a story associated with the name Jean de Brebeuf.

But I won’t write about it today, because we were trying to go to St.Ignace II,but we were unlucky again. There was a very strong snowstorm on the road. The snow was raging. It was getting dark. The cars were driving carefully one after another along the highway. Visibility was impaired. The snow was sticky and thick. We turned onto the road to the area. We drove to the sign. There the road became dangerous as written on the road signs. I still continued driving until it narrowed to one passable car and when entering or entering the place we found a pickup truck that blocked the entrance. It was standing on the road, blocking the passage. There was no one in the car and there was snow around the car. We turned around and drove away, deciding that the trip would need to be repeated in more suitable weather and time.

Huronia was waiting for us.

Helen Polishuk Leave a comment

A trip always leads to new discoveries and wonderful impressions and long memories. And now a week has passed, the road dust has settled, my thoughts are already cold and I return to those days with memories.And everything was cool.Just a trip to Huronia. For you this is something, then I will reveal a secret. This is a peninsula adjacent to the large Lake Huron (by the way, the name of the lake comes from the same name as the peninsula). The lake is divided by the borders of America and Canada. On the other side is Michigan, and from here we, the residents of Ontario.

Previously, and this was 400-500 years ago, this neighborhood was intense. Then somehow the activity died down, then in the 1900s everything was actively revived again and looking at the photographs – there were huge ships with tourists, grain and wood were transported on ferries, cars and equipment were brought here. Ladies with lace parasols from the sun walked along the shore, cars with mustachioed men in tailcoats with canes drove. And a railway went to the main desks.
Interesting?
That’s great.
It all started with the fact that I looked in one word in Wikipedia. And word for word, and off we went. I could not sleep and when we went to the peninsula, I wanted to see everything with my own eyes.

We decided to visit two cities, namely Penetanguishene and Midland.

Penetanguishene is town in Simcoe Country first appears in records in 1882, but probably has an older history due to the terrain. The city’s buildings descend from the mountain to Lake Huron and has a beautiful harbor, where I already wrote above, at the end of the 18th-19th centuries life was booming. Most of the residents were from Quebec and French, so even now the main part of the city has French or French-named streets. Very little remains of the former city now, since its inhabitants are less than 10,000. Once this city received its name from the Wyandot Indians and means a place where the sand quickly grinds or land of the while rolling sands.

I didn’t see it there, as well as the lake itself, since in mid-January there are huge mountains of snow and the lake freezes. It turns into a road for snowmobiles. And the snowmobile traffic is active. Apparently, the snowfalls are heavy and people get tired of removing snow near their houses. The snow falls constantly and sometimes in waves, forming blizzards. The time I was there – gray clouds of snow, snow sometimes in flakes, sometimes in a solid wall. Then the locals leave their cars near their houses, dig out a small path from their house to the main road, where the snow is removed perfectly. And they go using snowmobiles. Reliable, fast and cheap. So these are the routes and lively skating I found on the lake and on the pier, a frozen boat crashed into the ice, which was waiting for spring and warmth to ride tourists around the lake.

The city was famous and popular precisely when in 1793 the governor of Upper Canada visited it and saw that the place was strategic and decided to build a military base here. It was built and in 1813-1814 a railway was built there. Life in this area was very active in those years. It was a stronghold against attack by the Americans and was connected to another important city in this region – Berry.

It is difficult to even imagine now that there were powerful defensive structures, as history says, along the entire coast and even on the Wasaga beaches, where there are now a huge number of beaches and hotels.

The same story also writes that these defensive structures along with the ships did not stand for long and sank several years later.

Gradually, from the middle of the 19th century, this place ceased to be military, at the beginning of the 20th century it turned into a commercial and industrial one. Well, now it is dying, since the main income comes from tourists who come for a short Canadian summer and settle in hotels, relax, enjoy local parks and fishing.
It is necessary to mention one more attraction – there are three islands near the city. Ferries go to these islands even today (though not now, everything is frozen). Indian families still live on the islands. I think that the movement of snowmobiles that I saw when I arrived at the harbor is the movement to the islands. I did not see a boat, and in such winter temperatures a ship cannot sail on ice. I read that there are ferries to the islands. One of the islands is the largest and it is closest to the city. We decided to go and see a tourist place called Discovery Harbour.

This place is located at the mouth of the harbor and has many restaurants and a famous local theater. But unfortunately they were closed. Apparently we chose the wrong time.
However, there is a certain charm in this, when you arrive at such a time. This is that there are no tourists, few people and in the hotel a hot tub awaits you, in which you sit and watch the snow fall. The feeling is indescribable. The ratio of temperatures, the magic of water and the play of water with temperature.
How can you forget this? And then just hot tea.

For further information see other post

Incarnation-An inspired sequence of 12th century carols through the 15th century to today

Helen Polishuk Leave a comment

On January 10, 2025, a very important and unforgettable event in the cultural life of Toronto took place. As part of the Christmas concerts, this unique evening was held, dedicated to renewal, the winter solstice, the birth of a new year, a new era, a new era, a turning point in the year – when the sun is first covered by clouds and the day is full of gloom and cold, and with each new day of renewal more light comes, darkness goes to its usual time and takes its usual volume. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 16th century, “Beautiful Youth”, sounds. The choir members enter the hall by candlelight, in darkness and absolute silence and sounds ,,O Sapientia”by Janella Lucyk.

The voices of the choir soloists are clearly selected and harmoniously placed, as the next piece sounds, they seem to envelop us with singing from all sides, a feeling of 3D reality arises, when the sound seems to come from behind, goes around in a circle from left to right, rises up and sounds powerfully from all sides. This is an amazing feeling that makes everyone sitting hold their breath, and this continues from the beginning of the concert until its end.

Thanks to the masterful creativity and unrealistically beautiful gentle creation of atmosphere to conductor Daniel Taylor.

Shakespeare’s sonnet sounds in the head and the actions taking place on stage repeat the movement of the sun, when after the winter solstice, the motionless sun begins to move slowly, giving the promise of light to conquer the cold darkness. We see how the wheel is turning more and more, the pagan holiday of geola, the Wheel, conveys the mystery and meaning of the idea of ​​the year, when one ends and slowly comes the transformation and the light gradually enters the winter cold, stillness and darkness. Every day it gains more and more strength and power and eventually it defeats the darkness and gives us hope for renewal, rethinking and victory. This is very significant, since this year 2024 at the hour of the winter solstice many dates and holidays coincided and for the first time this coincidence gave hope. Gave birth to hope. A moment that echoed through many cultures around the world. Sacred. Touching. Magical, when this state is conveyed through singing and accompanied by the music of the Christmas carols of the 12-15 centuries, Scottish, Italian chants

The Toronto Consort Choir sounds wonderful, divine, angelic together with Schola Cantorum Singers.

The entire concert is based on the cycles of the Gregorian calendar and in the finale, it sounds updated, powerful, loud, apotheosis-like at first ,,Lully,lulla” by Nicolas Burns and final,,Hymn to the Mother of God” /J.Tavener/

The fact that everyone in the hall was in the magic of the melody and singing – it sounds like nothing. Divine performance and a wonderful idea for a concert. Thank you for such a creation and the opportunity to realize it THE TORONTO CONCORT( 427 Bloor St.W.,Toronto,Canada) Heather Turnbull and all creative team.

Beautiful music from the 12th-15th centuries was heard, hymns, music by Poston, Pärt, Britten, Tavener.

I love classical music, but what makes the Toronto Consort unique is that each concert remains in the memory. The memories are so vivid and colorful, they give a connection between modernity and classical works and introduce the authors and performers.

For me, this is a line that cannot be erased or changed and I am proud that there is a society in Toronto and I enjoy their work.
As they beautifully showed the flow of time, which has a cycle, a circle, and being born, becoming stronger, we produce more and more light, becoming adults and mature, we give our light, give birth to victory and life and after the summer solstice, in the aura of strength and life, we gradually fade away. Today we are talking only about birth and victory. I will describe the second part later. I have the strength and did not live to see it.

For all those who are obsessed with this unique place of intimacy and treasures, I inform you that the next concert will take place on January 25th,2025 at 8 pm and you can get more information at the link:

https://torontoconsort.org

From begining of 2025

Helen Polishuk Leave a comment

2022.Open Reception

Creating a new project with the onset of the new year, these are very significant changes in my career and in my life. What influences the final result and how all the work changes in connection with the new project, it is very difficult to talk about it a lot, and even more difficult to explain.

In previous years, I got used to keeping silent and doing my job, showing you the result of the work. And this always hid the colossal expenditure of time on the production of the product. The final result came out as something easy to do, not requiring large expenses and time. But with the complication of my tasks, I have to abstract myself from life, close myself off in order to produce more and more, create and implement my plans. That is why today I am simply telling you that I am alive, healthy and very busy.

All my free time, which is very little, I devote to my family, children and walks. This helps to distract myself and, conversely, creates an atmosphere of community and comfort.

a small drop from future projects I am posting for you now.
Please use all iso-images that are published on this site as original works and repost only with the mention of my name. Any attempts to use images otherwise will be considered a violation of copyright.

@ALLRIGHTRESERVED

@helenpolishuk

@2025

Intersections.Threads of tradition and identity.Third Edition.

Helen Polishuk

For the third time, Art Etobiko is hosting a juried exhibition on New Year’s Eve that celebrates the multiculturalism and richness of our Toronto artist community.
This year’s exhibition ran from November 21 to December 21,2024.

Cloverdale Mall,The East Mall,Etobicoke,Ontario

The exhibition presents works by many artists from all over the world who work in Toronto. And this is what distinguishes our exhibition, that it is always multifaceted, rich and bright.

Present the works both in decorative, and illustrations and paintings of artists. There was stand with knitting – knitting techniques were shown. It is wonderful to see the revival of ancient art. The works of artists from India especially stood out.


My works were presented by two plates, painting in the Petrikivka style.
This is the second exhibition where I present my works. Last year there were paintings – Petrikivka. This year my collection was replenished with painting on wood.
All works are unique, these are author’s works. There is a signature on each of the plates.Size:14″x14″x 1″
One plate is created on a black background. This is a wood base plate.


The second work is an autumn composition, created on an oval plastic tray.Size: 14″x11″x1″.
Both works were selected by the jury of the competition and exhibited for visitors to the exhibition. The exhibition was a great success. Many guests from Toronto creative groups attended the opening exhibition on November 21,2024.
I am posting a video where you can see the exhibition visually.


This is how this artistically rich year passed.
And how did it begin?


Do you remember? This work on paper and the first work – painting on wood. It seems to me that it was so long ago. So many events have passed during this time. So many interesting events and exhibitions, sales and gallery expositions.
Taking this opportunity, I congratulate everyone on the upcoming New Year, I wish you success and good luck

December Activity(continuation)

Helen Polishuk

A very busy month, as I already informed you in the previous post. Lots of preparations for subsequent presentations, participation in competitions, participation in Christmas markets.
It is nice to be at Christmas markets, which are very intense this year. Thanks to such events, I visited several places in Ontario.
This year, as last year, I presented to my fans a series of new Christmas balls, painted in the Petrykivka style.


There were a lot of people at the exhibitions. It is impossible to say that they are not interested in this. Many people with pleasure and delight came to my table, touched, admired, bought.


I was so carried away by their creation that I could not stop myself even after the last Christmas market. I like to create New Year’s balls.

This work is very painstaking. A small stroke of paint in the wrong direction, and all the work is in vain. When you hang the ball to dry, you need to be especially careful not to touch the surface that has not yet dried and not to touch the drawing. Then the drawing will be distorted, which is very difficult to remove. Well, and special attention to the smallest products – they are so small that their creation takes additional time and knowledge of technology.


Now Christmas has come and the bazaars are over. Everything that is left is collected and hidden until next year.
I would like to note several of the brightest bazaars.

After being selected by a jury, my Christmas balls were sold to several Toronto galleries. They were featured for sale at the Art Etobicoke Christmas Gift Sale Shop Up.

Projects
Gift Shop Show Art Etobicoke

4893 A Dundas St.W .,Etobicoke,Ontario M9A 1B2

There were a lot of artists and craftsmen from Etobicoke represented and it was a very interesting, creative exhibition.

The next such exhibition will be held in the spring. I am already preparing for it.

December activity

Helen Polishuk

It is worth dedicating you, my dear bots and readers, readers-bots, to the past activities of the past month.
The month was eventful and gave eventful results. In December, readers continued to get acquainted with my new book. I am ready to share it with you. Moreover, the book is now on sale online and anyone who is interested in history, who is interested in children’s literature, who loves educational stories for their children – this little book is for you.

https://knyga.ca/catalog/personalities/authors/olena-polishchuk

If you are a resident of Canada, you can easily buy this book through the online store.
Good choice.

Continuing with the topic, I would really like to tell you an interesting story that happened with me at one of the last book presentations.
It was a presentation for parents with children. There were not many of them, among six families there was a very restless child who could not sit. Mom tried to calm him down, he kept breaking free and leaving, walking around the room and returning back, but not to her, but joyfully running to me. I interrupted the meeting, joked with him, picked up the baby in my arms and carried him to mom.
He sat in her arms for literally a minute, broke free again. He ran across the hall and ran smiling past mom to me.
This happened several times until I picked him up.
And then a miracle happened.
He calmed down and, sitting in my arms, carefully watched me and the people who had gathered in the hall. It wasn’t hard for me to hold him in my arms. The baby’s mother apologized profusely. She asked to give him to her. The baby was capricious and didn’t want it.
At the end of the presentation, I always turn to the children and talk to them.
And this time too.
And when I asked: “What did you like most today?”
The girl who was sitting in front stood up and pointed to the baby: “He”
We all laughed together.
Of course, the baby got his gift.
I felt like a young mother.
Oh, how difficult it is.
So many years have passed since I was a young mother.
I have already forgotten how difficult and responsible it is.
It was an interesting meeting.
As for the next meeting, it will take place in January, after the Christmas holidays.
Follow the announcements

Brain Rot

Helen Polishuk

We have to publish and write a lot about the current situation in the virtual environment. And in response to the publication of Oxford University that the past year is the year of brain rot , I will say that it is terrible.

I remember my youth and the time of raising children, when, in order to calm the child, I gave him a computer instead of a toy. What came of it? Two children became adepts and their lives are connected with computers. And you tell me, what about trade, the service sector. Horrible. Who in 30 years will serve us, cook food and clean the premises, guard and bring letters? Of course, I am positive, but if you look seriously, then the capture of artificial intelligence of all industries has already confronted me with a problem this year. With scammers and people who hide behind new technologies. When they took double the price from my credit card when paying for an airplane ticket and when I began to find out the state of affairs, they turned on artificial intelligence, essentially a bot. When I was indignant, they once condescendingly answered me that they did not even have an official page on the Internet, and then they put it on a bot again. In this way, you can’t get through, not return. In fact, it’s good that they didn’t cheat with the credit card. And this is the carrier. That is, the system is controlled selectively and is replaced by bots in case of fraud. Great. We’ve lived to see it. With children – their depression and lack of desire to learn and achieve something.

Have you noticed that the protest system today is urinating on fences in the centers of large cities, garbage and a bunch of cans and dirt in parks, on the roads, in cultural places.
How to resist – I support those who say that it is necessary to turn off excessive use of the Internet. Create according to interests. And control the flow of information.
Well, as an example from me – I created a book. I neglected the Internet community and discovered for myself in this leap year books, the book community, the rustle of pages and live debates in library clubs. And this is wonderful. Two years ago I discovered a Japanese cultural center, which I simply adore for everything it does and represents. Well, and I, as someone who does not understand, wanted to learn the language. But where is there, because this is a completely new world in which I am absolutely blind without an assistant.

The events that take place in this center in Toronto are my assistant and guide. Whenever I have time, I visit it with pleasure.

I enjoy communicating with readers, hearing their wishes and preparing the next publications. I am already preparing a new edition for next year. It will be a bilingual edition, which will create a wider audience and help readers get to know my publications better.
Today I will tell you a little about my book, which was published this year.
It is dedicated to children who dream of the sea and travel. It also tells about the Ukrainian navy. The book contains short interesting stories about the largest sailing warships, their achievements, major battles, glory and defeats. There is a section dedicated to the fleet of the first Ukrainian republic.
It separately tells about the first years of the formation of Ukraine’s independence in 1992. Interesting, exciting, educational, informative.

Many public meetings with readers have already been held and I am pleased that the reading audience is very wide – from small children to older people who, rereading the book, supplement it with their own stories and memories.

Literally tomorrow there will be another meeting with children and their parents. On St. Nicholas Day I will represent the side of wizards, storytellers, give gifts, miracles and a pleasant mood. Well, I invite you, my readers, to this fascinating world and we will meet tomorrow at 4 pm 3015 Winston Churchill Blv.,Mississauga,On

@KNYGA.ca

Original or Not

Helen Polishuk

Today I want to talk about creativity.
This is a complex topic, but I will try to explain it to you in an accessible way and without pressure.
What is original creativity today and what is not.
Computer intelligence has existed in the Internet space for more than two years. Simply put, a bot or a chatbot.
And in two years we have already realized that when they want to deceive us, when they do not want to help, but to cause problems, we communicate with chatbots and this does not give any effect. Well, this is a whole problem and suffering for our grandparents, who “fight” all day because of some minor everyday problems, waiting for these bots on pay phones. I feel sorry for these old people, God bless them.
There is a way out of these tricky bots. If you ask a question not as a continuation of the dialogue, but contact for an appointment, then the bot turns into a live employee and everything can be solved. That is, in order to confirm each step of the request, you need to be able to understand the Internet and computers at least a little, which, unfortunately, our old people do not know how to do.

In art, the same story. We have come a long way in the last 10 years and every artist now has programs that give him the opportunity to create paintings, illustrations and help him be creative.
Can this be called original? I think so. After all, this is what we have today.
In fact, you can create a stencil (black and white image) of any picture, transfer it to canvas and paint it.
Therefore, it is easy to become an artist. And I invite you to be one.
That’s all. This is the time for lovers of experiments.
Create, create, exhibit and bear the name of an artist.

In addition to the above, I publish my works, which characterize me as a traditionally abstract artist.
And this is 1000% original
I publish my acrylic works.
Why don’t I put them up for sale on this site?
Because you are too lazy to look at previous works. Why should I spend days adding them to the site?
Ha-ha-ha, only Chinese, Jewish bots view my posts and new pages. It’s an interesting time now, my dears.
But the site is absolutely original and I run my pages and write and publish posts in an original way, not bo and not artificial intelligence. I spend my time for you to read this. I respect you, my dear readers.
So have a good trip and look at my new works.
With respect, yours

Helen Polishuk

Fish(acrylic on artistic canva)

COW(acrylic on artistic canva)

DUCK(acrylic on artistic canva)

DOGGY(This painting is dedicated to our dog MINI who passed away to the clouds a month ago) acrylic on canvas

All 1000% original ))

Post for readers

Helen Polishuk

What happened is incredible. Using the computer, everything that was accumulated on the disk over the last 13 years of life in Canada was erased. There are two ways – to restore what we are working on and to start all over again.
That’s how it happens.
I have to publish my works that remained on the documents in this computer.
But still, I draw great
You can support me with just likes, comments or buy a painting that is on https://www.saatchiart.com/en-ca/. Find Helen Polishuk

Have a great day