Month: July 2025

Pachamama Raymi

Helen Polishuk

On August 1st, in the province of Quispicanchi, Cusco region of Peru, they celebrate the Festival of Mother Earth or Pachamama Raymi.

This is an annual celebration that involves communities living in the Andes: Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Over the course of a week, many people come to this area to perform an annual traditional ritual and sacrifice to Mother Earth for her gifts.

This event is held in a large special place, which has been set aside for this ritual for a long time.

Farmers rest on this day, people wear beautiful costumes, dance a lot and thank nature for a good harvest.

The symbol of Pachamama is a chakana – the upper part of the Inca cross – piadista with three degrees leading to it. Pachamama was depicted as an underground snake, a mountain or a hill of stones. Gifts were brought there, poured with chicha, wine and balls of coca.

Mother Earth is a pre-Inca ancient tradition. The Incas believed that Mother Earth is the patroness of their empire, who protects them and helps them to exist. So they earned favor and gratitude for the next year with these rituals. I must say about the sacrifices on this holiday – I noticed and was told this when I was in Machu Picchu – they sacrifice fruits that nature gives, put these fruits in a “pit” for collecting the sacrifice, to feed Mother Earth, so that she is not hungry. This ritual is performed by a special priest.
In addition to fruits, you can offer coconut leaves, candies and sweets to sweeten Mother Earth.
In addition, the inhabitants dance and sing traditional songs and dances for the ritual.
Traditional fairs and exhibitions of products are held. And the Peruvians have so many of them and they are so valuable – these are products made of fabric, leather and wool alpacas.

This holiday is very symbolic, as it gives the importance of living in harmony with nature and I was very envious in a good way of these mountain people, who were involved in their lives. Time passed, I mentally return to their way of life and I miss it in the bustle of the city. It’s great that the state of Peru supported these traditions and developed them, attracting tourists and creating conditions for the development of communities and popularizing their culture.

This day is also celebrated as National Alpaca Day(Dia National del Alpaca)

And this is an incredibly cute, fluffy, kind animal that grazes in the meadows of the Antes and even the Incas raised them and considered them sacred animals that helped transport cargo, gave wool and meat as food to the Incas in the high mountains. Now these animals are in many countries, but they are a symbol of Peru.Alpacas live in Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile too. There are two breeds of alpacas – Huacaya and Suri.

Their wool is used to weave fabrics that are valuable in the world. I got a hat and socks as a keepsake. I will remember these furry, kind animals in cold times.

It is safe to say that this holiday today brings a new spirit and is a concern for the Universe, love for the Earth and the environment.

Winter 2025 Artwork History

Helen Polishuk

I have been meaning to write this story for a long time, but I had little time to sit down at the computer. Today I chose a few hours to pay attention to you and write down this story. And all this is winter 2024-2025. I had many changes in work, stopped working in a public organization, switched to a more creative artistic focus and opened my archives to see what I am most successful at ,what I am bad at.

There is snow outside, cleaning every day. It is cold and most importantly, cloudy, absolutely no sun. I live in the northern part, in the northernmost country, although in its southernmost city, but the sun is not a frequent guest here in the middle of winter.
My works are most recognized among artists and it has become established for me that I can show winter beautifully.
For paintings created in different years, I received many prizes and titles specifically for winter landscapes.
To speed up and warm up, I created the first two landscapes.
For me, they are the same, in motive. As a creator, I played with shades and I succeeded.
The size of the paintings is 5 x 7, created with acrylic on canvas.

Here the snow cover is not deep and the river has not frozen yet. It was interesting to draw each bush of the plant, each leaf of the tree and grass.
It was immediately taken away.
The second one is more monochromatic, it is already a slightly different time of winter, the snow is like glass, the plants are frozen and icy. A little fog at such a time. The river has merged in tone with the sky.
This painting was not taken away.

It remained. And I wanted to draw something from the winter landscape again.
Then I decided not to stop, to create more and this painting turned out.

I decided to create a painting right after the icing. Forest. Trees were damaged, broken tree branches. And to mark, highlight it in red. That’s how this painting came about.Ppainting’s size 10x 8.Acrylic on canvas.
As soon as I showed it, it was immediately taken away. It didn’t stay in my gallery for long.

And I put my work aside, because outside the window there was everything that created material for my creativity.
And here is this painting, soft fluffy snow on a large semi-field near a farmhouse. A small path that leads to the house, freshly trampled by people.
The turning point was a trip during a snowfall to the north, to Huronia.

It was after this trip that I realized that we are lucky, Toronto residents. It snowed, we raked it out, removed the cars and now we are running around in puddles again. And all the people to the north, west and east of us – there they stock up on food and firewood in the fall and during snowstorms they dig small paths, leaving cars and fields under the snow until better weather. That’s just our weather.
The painting is 10 x 8,acrylic on canvas and again flew to its buyer.

And I was left with one work, as a memory of these works.

This artwork had been lying around for a long time, it ended up on sale at Saatchi and was selected for an exhibition in Etobicoke. The ice storm in this painting was just too realistic.

July came, hot, intense and active. I met with Hatcher and this painting, my last masterpiece of this winter collection, went to her collection.

7 x 5 acrylic on canvas.

The entire winter collection was sold out.
I was left with photos of the works and pleasant memories of winter.
After all, not everything should be gray and sad.
Although later there were serious health problems, but even now, remembering, I smile.
My works flew away from me.
How wonderful it is.
I was left with my inspiration and strength for the next collection

LUMINATO THAW

Helen Polishuk

Once again I return you to the beginning of summer, to June, boiling with activities. Once again I remember the wonderful LUMINATO

It is really hard to forget and I will return to it more than once.
And today I want to tell you about the magical event that took place on Dundas Square on June 8, the last day of this event.

I’ll start with the fact that I was out of town, 4 hours away from Toronto, and I was late for my shift. I had to give the car to my son, run into the subway on a line that was being repaired, put on a volunteer tennis shirt right in the subway car, and be right in front of the group captain at the square on time. I made it. I remember it well.

When I arrived at my shift, the acrobat’s performance was already underway. A large crane was hanging over the square, with an ice floe attached to it. This is a real ice floe from Antarctica, which was cut out of an iceberg or a large ice floe and delivered to this performance in a special container.

The weather was wonderful, no one except my husband said that rain was coming. But my husband was at home. And the atmosphere in the square was wonderful. There were a lot of people. Everyone was looking at the acrobat dancing on the ice floe and taking pictures of her. She was wonderful.

Although the auxiliary safety ropes held her, it seemed that she was sliding boldly and freely on this ice floe without fear or stress.
But the ice floe was still slippery.
And cold. It was a natural ice floe.
Water was constantly dripping from it, it was melting.
But the skill and experience of the organizers was that they took into account the volume of the ice floe, so that it would be more than enough for the entire performance.

Toronto is very busy with tourists at this time. A double-decker tour bus was dropping people off and on, curious about what was going on in the square. This is the most popular square in Toronto with tourists, and there are events every week during the summer.

The performance was reflected through a huge screen located on the side of the square. This helped to see what was happening from any corner of the square. People watched what was happening, sitting on benches and chairs located in the park. Children jumped, played and repeated the dances of the acrobat.

She was given a very warm send-off at the end of her performance. And indeed, flying under the arches of Dundas Square on a real ice floe is super.

And how many emotions she had when she finished her performance and came down to square.


Here I want to note that this is a group of acrobats from Australia who specially flew to the LUMINATO festival. And this was the last day, Sunday, the last day of their performances.
This group did their first such performance in 2022 at the Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House in January 2022.

Created by Joshua Thomson with an original score by Alaskan composer Mattew Burther.

2.7 tonne ice block transforms under summer sun as a monumental call to action about climate change.

Three times each day, the artists take to the ice to perform their show in front of an audience and make their contribution to the fight against climate change.

We are experiencing signs of global warming everywhere, Europe is experiencing heat waves, heavy rains with hail, here in Toronto this year we have unprecedented heat for our region. And all this speaks of global warming.
I had to work with the last of the performers.
She was the youngest member of this group.
A very young 16 year old girl.
I captured her as she climbed up on a crane, sitting timidly on a cold ice floe. Her performance was extraordinary.

The little girl hesitantly began to show her number. It seemed that she was a little constrained and afraid. But it only seemed that way to us.

Thaw means ice,snow,frozen substance become liquid or soft as a result of warming.

The girl seemed to be collecting droplets of water from the ice with her hands. She was collecting the immensity.

And then the extraordinary began. That is, the usual for my husband’s forecast, that it would rain. But rain can be different. And no one among the organizers foresaw the rain, since it interfered with the performance and was even dangerous. They did not foresee it.
And then, during the performance of this little girl, the youngest artist, from nowhere, the wind blew in. Clouds, the sky turned black and it did not rain, but real hail. In one minute, an avalanche of water poured out of the sky.
The square emptied, everyone ran for shelter, and they began to ask the poor girl to go down, since the weather did not allow the performance to continue. It was very dangerous.
But she refused. She refused to go down and finish the performance and in the rain on a very slippery ice floe she continued the performance. It’s so brave and so sensitive. We all watched her without taking our eyes off her. The girl seemed to come to life. She, all wet, on the cold ice floe, continued to show her performance and express her fight against global warming.

NO TIME TO WASTE is written on her poster.

We stood in the tents, holding our breath, looking at this brave girl.

The weather changed again and the final part of this artist’s performance was again light and a lot of people came running to the square to see how this tiny girl boldly flies under the arch of the park, lifted by a crane above the square, regardless of the weather, the evening, or us, the spectators.

This is the video, it is very memorable to me. It is how she is on a slippery ice floe, wet, after more than an hour of performance, at great speed, at the end of her performance, flying over our heads. This remains in my memory.

I think it’s not just me who remembers it. Everyone who was on that square that day, and all the organizers of the show.
The fight against global warming is our responsibility to the next generation. What will win – money or wisdom – is up to us to decide. Until now, wisdom has won.
That’s why we live on this planet today.

Bel Air Tremblant

Helen Polishuk

I will tell you a little about the place of rest, where our whole family visited this year.


It is really a step into the future and something from fantasy and unreality.


A little history for your appetite. As the workers told us, the owner of this five-star complex is a former very famous and successful lawyer in New York.
Having become interested in this idea, he left his business and moved to Quebec to make his dream come true.


And so on the mountain, not far from the famous Tremblant, in completely wild nature, fabulous glass houses grew.

Each of the houses has two or one floor, there is a hot pot, a private recreation area for each house.

The house is built according to the eco system and is located in absolutely wild nature.

The central cottage is equipped with a restaurant, a swimming pool, a sauna, there is a store and a massage room, a fitness room.


You can ride bicycles on the territory – there is a bike track nearby, go for walks and below there is a farm where they keep llamas, goats and cows, breed chickens.


The complex is made up of 50 houses, but will be expanded. This is a great place to relax in the silence of nature and an ecological zone away from the noise of big cities, alone with nature. Strawberries grow everywhere!


This is a five-star resort.


I saw such resorts in Columbia, near coffee farms. Now here in Quebec, near the famous ski resort.
The houses inside are air-conditioned, protected from mosquitoes. And in winter there is air conditioning. Everything is thought out to the smallest detail and is very attractive.


A great place to relax for a family.

From May memories

Helen Polishuk

The last three months have flown by quickly.
I want to stop them, but time is running forward inexorably.
Recently, my friend said to me: “Have you noticed that time has started to run faster?”
“Yes!” I answered her and indeed, we are getting older faster, and time is running forward faster.
Ah……

I’ll be back in May and it’s time for the Door Open Toronto 2025.

I’ll tell you about my volunteer work in a beautiful building located in Toronto at 50 Carlton St.

The building not only has a very interesting history, but is also very interesting itself.


An escalator goes to the upper floors, which rises to enter the ….. ice field.


This ice field in the center of Toronto is the largest indoor ice hall, built in the 70s was the largest and most modern in North America.


It served as an arena for hockey and figure skating competitions, and hosted circus acrobatic groups.
There are many photographs that tell about the events of those years.

The largest concerts in terms of numbers took place here, where stars from all over the world performed in front of a huge number of spectators. Elvis Presley, Madona…

Built in 1933, it served as the largest arena and was called Maple Leaf Gardens

Now this place stores historical photos of those years.
There is a wonderful conference hall where meetings and conferences are held.

And today hockey teams are training, just like many years ago. We also had the opportunity to skate if we brought skates with us.

There were many who wanted to.

Arena honors memory of its famous Toronto Maple Leafs hockey players and the founders of the Arena.

Conn Smythe,founder and owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs,secretly buried a time-capsule in a cornersrone when the Maple Leaf Gardens were built in 1931.

The capsule would remain buried for 80 years until its accidental discovery by a construction worker during building renovations in 2011.

The capsule was housed in a copper box handmade by Millard Breuls Campbell,a draftsman working at the Gardens during its construction.Campbell left an inscription located on the inner lid that reads,,M.B.Campbell124 Lindsay Ave 2119131″

The capsule held mementos from the time including-newspapers,official hocey rulebooks,a stock prospectus from Maple Leaf Gardens,a red onsign flag,an ivory carved elephant and a four-page letter detalling the design and construction of the arena.

The Toronto Maple Leafs win 11 Stanley cups and was host to some of the biggest stars of the time.

Traditions are maintained today, new athletes train in this arena.

On the second floor of the arena there is a wonderful modern fitness center.

Finally, I want to tell you about this photo.

Photo from Libraries and Archives Canada, Walter Curtin Foundation.

King Clancy(right) and Leafs captain Ted Kennedy.

Francis,,King” Clancy (1903-1986) is a hockey legend,despite being one of the smallest defencemen of his era-just 5 feet,7 inches and 155 pounds.

In 1930 Conn Smythe traded two players to the Ottawa Senators and paid an unprecedented $35,000 to acquire the rights to Clancy.

During the following season,the feisty,rushing defencemen helped the leafs win their first Stanley Cup.He was a versatile player,once playing all six positions in a single game,including goal.

He retiered as a player in 1936,became a NHL referee for eleven years,and later returned to coach the Leafs from 1953 to 1956.

King Clancy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958,and remained connected with the team until his death in 1986.

As I was leaving Arena, I felt a little sad.
After all, time flies quickly, and we can’t keep up with it.
Or is it just me?