On the eve of the great spring holiday of Easter, I congratulate you and your families on this important occasion.
I wish you purity of heart, spiritual balance, warmth and happiness for your families, and a good mood.
May the spirit of Easter renew your homes, cleanse them of all that is dark, dirty, and sad, and give you strength and spiritual richness.
At this time, we should all reflect on the eternal, looking at our feet.
Where are we going, with whom are we going, and what are we carrying?
As always, I am working on my paintings and expanding the circle of people familiar with my work, overcoming all the local traditional difficulties we all face in life, and breathing with optimism that everything changes, as do I and my mood.
Spring has struck me like a willow branch, painfully and sharply. She tries to change my plans, making her own. For example, I didn’t make it through the jury competition for several new major festivals in Toronto. And although I believed I would make it, failure hit me hard.
I know there’s interest in me and there will be fall sessions to get to know me, but all this must be endured.
However, my painting was selected for the 50th anniversary celebration of our Etobicoke Civic Centre, and I’m happy to be among Etobicoke’s best artists in a gallery in our district. I love our unique Etobicoke with its luxurious parks, squares, main streets, and shopping centers.
This painting is on display at an exhibition celebrating Etobicoke’s Civic Centre 50th anniversary.
With the morning birdsong, with life among nature thanks to the connections through most of the parks along the rivers. Coyotes, deer, birds, raccoons, foxes, and rabbits—everything comes and lives nearby. And high-rise skyscrapers are being built nearby.
This is why we value our region.
Yesterday, as an April Fool’s joke, the news outlets reported that starting this summer, clean air would be sold in downtown Toronto at a high price, and as a new initiative—in bags and at a discount.
Of course, this promotion is for us, but in Etobicoke, damn it, our air is clean.
Although we’ve had significant air pollution in recent years, too.
But I think raising gas prices will significantly reduce the number of cars on the streets and clean up the air.
I hope so.
Looking ahead, I’d like to believe that many interesting projects await me.
After all, I’ll tell you a secret, I’m once again moving away from traditional Ukrainian folklore toward creating large, fragmented paintings on canvas.
Last winter, I wanted to create structural, 3D paintings, but after creating one, I realized it wasn’t popular, wasn’t appreciated, and wasn’t accepted by the public. So, I’ve returned to 2017, when I was creating large paintings.
If I can and the weather cooperates, I’ll certainly do it in oils. Although, using mixed media is better.
You see, living conditions, terrain, and weather all influence the choice of what and how to paint.
You know, I’m a very open and sunny person.
But I’ve noticed that when I express myself in this way, others don’t always appreciate it. It’s the same with my paintings—creating bright, vibrant images doesn’t get me any encouragement. It clashes with the gloomy, rainy, and snowy surroundings.
Classicism and overcastness are what’s called for.
Walking through the galleries, I noticed that the more abstract, obscure, and washed-out the paintings, the better and more sustained.
Apparently, tone sets the mood.
The sun is shining more often now, which sets the tone for joy and optimism.
But every year, after a difficult and challenging winter, we clean our homes, tidy our houses, dust, throw away old clothes, and renew the soil around the trees in our gardens to make way for the new.
And that’s why Easter is so dear and important to us.
Especially to me.
Happy upcoming holidays to all of you and your families.