Tag: artist

Aysanabee and the festival in Hamilton

Helen Polishuk Leave a comment

To your delight, I’ll turn to the posts on my page.
Unexpectedly, it was almost three months away, but it was not so wasted, I went to Europe, to the distant native Ukraine, spent an hour there, completed difficult important inquiries, turned back through all of Europe to Canada.
Now I can give you news about the past, as well as about the current events that are happening around me.

You all know from past posts that I grew up listening music, I love both classical and modern music.
I follow the music of the Renaissance, supported by an organization in Toronto, developing this directly.

I love music so much.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Gkhva192HIs?si=5oTla0Sts27mfh9-
In the sense of the music of the indigenous peoples of Canada, the singer that has recently become known is especially dear to me, a singer with a very garish fantastic voice and a unique way of singing.
This is Aysanabee.

He is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who performs indie-pop and alternative rock music.

He made his debut in 2022 with an album WATIN(2022).The album is named after his grandfather; the name translates from Ojibwe as “quiet” and “weather.”

The album told the story of life in residential schools for Indigenous children and enjoyed immense popularity.


As his fame grew, he began receiving invitations to perform at major concerts across America and started winning awards; after all, his voice is captivating, as is his style of musical accompaniment.
I am delighted that his subsequent albums have been released: NOMADS,SOMEBODY ELSE,WE WERE HERE.

For this reason I came to the SUPERCRAWL festival last week, on the 13th of Sunday in Hamilton.

He turned to perform at this festival. One of the first performances was at this festival, so he was able to continue the tradition and the completion of the festival was the performance of Aysanabee’s songs.

I arrived early for the concert to get a spot near the stage.
I had a wonderful opportunity to watch this talented singer preparing for the show.
It was great to see how meticulously and carefully he tuned his guitars and set up the microphones and sound system.
And then, the highlight for me began—his performance.
He has a band that I think is exceptionally well-chosen; the musicians are fantastic.
He performed songs from all his albums.
Within half an hour, the area near the stage was packed—there wasn’t a single empty spot left. People sang along, applauded, and danced.
It was a magical experience.
I left having bought his latest album, as it had just been released-EDGE OF THE EARTH.

This is a full-length album that was released in June 2025 ISHKODE RECORDS.For this album, in March 2026, the artist received two prestigious awards -JUNO AWARDS -in the categories “Alternative Artist of the Year” and “Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year”.

Some of the first artists who were signed to a label ISHKODE RECORDS ,created by First Nations women to promote authentic Canadian music

The album’s title serves as a metaphor for a crossroads in life—a step into the complete unknown. While creating the album, the musician had to make difficult decisions and venture into the unknown.
I wish him continued success and a steady, unhurried pace—free from pressure, and full of enjoyment.
I see Canadian music transcending boundaries and embracing innovation. It is a pleasure to hear such talented artists, and I truly hope their work marks a new milestone in the evolution of our multifaceted Canadian culture.


After all, we are a multicultural society, and this diversity is both our heritage and our future.
May the voices of Indigenous peoples ring out alongside others—openly, diversely, and far and wide. Wish you best luck,AYSANABEE!

We are love you !

Fiery Year

Helen Polishuk

The New Year is galloping by in all its glory and unbridled speed.
Maybe it’s just me feeling like the days are flying by faster than they did a few years ago?
Apparently, as I get older, I find myself wanting to just sit and do nothing, look out the window, read a book, watch the birds chirping outside, admire the flowers I grew myself, play with my grandchildren, and simply pass the time.
I can’t say I get tired of it.
On the contrary, it brings me more and more pleasure with each passing year.
The fiery fortnight of January has already passed.
The red fire horse will soon enter its domain, and the year is shaping up to be the year of the red fire horse.
And I’m still going through my work, looking at my sketches, analyzing what I’ve created in recent years, what’s good, what I don’t like.
And I read and listen a lot.
I’m especially interested in the most pressing topic: art management. An artist studies, creates, and produces to be sold.
This is the artist’s main motivation. Even in the most difficult financial situation, an artist dreams of selling their works and turning them into capital.
No matter how difficult this may be in today’s circumstances, one must constantly analyze and improve oneself through study to keep up with fashion and trends.
I want to harken back to the early years of my creative work, when I created my paintings without much emphasis on sales, but many of my paintings have become collections of cultural centers after numerous exhibitions of my work.
Today, much has changed, and what I especially want to share with you is my desire to expand the potential of each work to maximize its sales potential. So now I’m calculating whether I should buy equipment and create additional products to popularize my art, or leave everything as is due to my poor financial situation. After all, that would mean upfront payments, investments, and investments in a future no one knows.
We didn’t know that in 2019 and 2020 we would be in quarantine, and then in a major financial crisis. In times like these, saving is better than spending.

It’s a leap, but I’d call it a risk.
Another thought occurred to me: I’m holding myself back more and more.
I’m becoming slower and slower. And I’m less and less willing to change anything; I’m giving up so many things, even beyond my capabilities.
Oh well.
Let this fiery horse gallop. Good luck to him and everyone in this fiery year.

If you translate the word “fiery” and look for its synonyms, it perfectly describes the first days and weeks of the new 2026 year.
We don’t expect any surprises this year, but rather a rather unpredictable one.

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

Continuation

Helen Polishuk

How to describe the period from February 13 to 18, 2025. Toronto. Canada?
In a word – it continues.
There is little joy in the city from the snow, everything is buried in solid snowdrifts. Even cars did not rise to shovel them on Sunday. If the weather spoils us and more snow falls this week, then even a very active snow digger will give up from the impossibility of clearing the paths. On the night from Sunday to Monday, some crazy guys decided to drive along an uncleaned street. It all ended with one in a pickup truck flying up a mountain of snow across the road, breaking all the cables and scattering parts of the car. Removing it was also problematic, since it is difficult for cars to leave and arrive at the location. And at that moment I noticed that the cars were driving carefully along the open lane. And not one, not one stopped to help remove the moron from the hill!
We must understand the harsh, specific character of our inhabitants.

Then a gusty wind blew and a small plane at the airport landed on the roof, flipping over and breaking its wings. How can they allow landings in such weather? And perhaps this is not the best time for flights.
But today the sun is shining blindingly, cold, provocative. We fed the sparrows that spend the winter in our trees. The birds pounced on the food, not even waiting for us to move away. They already trust us. Weather-tested))

I am disabled in one eye, I am trying to pull myself out of idleness and painted.
All the critics around me, discussing my work, say that I am great at landscapes. Winter ones, for example.
So I am trying.
I want to sweeten my condition with something.
I am giving you a new work – Winter landscape
You will see from it how much I miss painting with oil paints.
Still, oil cannot be replaced by acrylic. And in the summer, when there is an opportunity to paint with oil paints in the open air, I will return to my favorite technique.
In the meantime, for you – winter landscape

Size:7 ”x5

Acrylic on canvas

Feb 2025

https://www.saatchiart.com/en-ca/helenpolishuk

Snow Storm

Helen Polishuk

A snow storm is covering Toronto. This is the fifth wave in a week or the third in a day. Another 10 cm of snow is expected. During my stay in the city, I have seen such a strong snow storm for the first time. Today is Sunday and the city is frozen. Everyone is in their homes. It is impossible to go outside, since in most cases, the roads have not yet been cleared, walking is problematic. Many exits from houses are covered and there are no cars in the city. Everything has stopped. Only beautiful snow-white snow falls and falls. As if the cloud above the city is full of holes and sheds its precious feathers. Everything turns soft white. Snowdrifts are already taller than a person. And if two weeks ago, higher, north of Toronto there were snowdrifts of this height, now they are in Toronto too. And what about further north? Strength to city residents to have enough strength to clear these snow drifts. Without snow removal machines it is impossible to do without. The snow is becoming sticky and heavy and it is becoming increasingly difficult to remove it manually. Just yesterday, cars from the city came and helped, cleared it and threw salt. The next thing after this will be a frost of -20 this week and after that – the melting of this snow. That is why we dig out houses – so that houses do not get flooded when the snow melts. That is why these convenient plazas are made in cities – so that in case of cataclysms you can drive in and have a post office, shops and cafes in one place. Now I understand the convenience of building cities in America.

Snow Storm

7” x 5 ”

Acrylic on canvas

Feb 2025

The snow keeps falling and falling.
The beauty that you watch from the window.
Rare cars try to drive along the uncleaned roads. Everyone is hiding and waiting – just a few more hours and you can go out, dig up, clean the paths around the house and the entrance to the houses. Just a few more hours. And then you have to dig up so that the water doesn’t get into the house, and then you have to sprinkle the paths with sand so that it’s not slippery.
Our Canadian winter is in full swing

From begining of 2025

Helen Polishuk

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

Let’s move on

Helen Polishuk
new works by the artist Helen Polishuk in her favorite style

I really want these warm sunny days already.
No matter how warm this winter was, it was not sunny and the lack of energy and warmth affects the mood of people in Toronto. However, I always repeat that everything passes. And after the cloudy days, warm days will come. And the seeds planted will break through the cold ground into the ground. And the gardens will bloom and the ringing singing of birds will flow, which notify about their offspring.
And we can live. After all, a new day is wonderful. A new video with the latest Petrykivka for you, my dears.

If you don’t already know my most active page, here it is. It contains all the latest news from the world of my creativity and painting.
Let’s move on

Announce

Helen Polishuk
My Petrykivka from past year

I am pleased to announce all the changes that accompany this month.

Sometimes you shouldn’t stir up the past, even if it’s not that long ago. The page is closed. We live and work. Announcement and planning for the coming months.


Not everything in our lives is so neglected, so now an announcement of news from me.
Firstly, I want to congratulate everyone who reads me on International Mother Language Day.

Still, why celebrate it?
If humanity had not created writing and language for communication, we would hardly have had global communication between nations today. And although we are all representatives of different nationalities today, we are united by knowledge of the English language, which the majority of us speak.
And if we don’t know this language, then our circle of communication is greatly narrowed. Of course, we can use the services of translators, but this makes communication more difficult and difficult.
Therefore, I only welcome learning new languages as an opportunity to expand my abilities.
The past week was very active and I can’t boast to you that I painted or exhibited anything in galleries. I don’t have enough energy and time. I’ll try to catch up and present you with new works.

My immediate plans include a return to icon painting and the final stages in the production of icons. An announcement of these actions will be coming soon.
After the seminar that took place last week, I am preparing to submit my visions for planning assistance and developing art in my city. Here, I would be happy to listen to your ideas. You can send me and enter into a chat with me on the FB page

https://www.facebook.com/helenpolishukart

where I have been publishing my work for the last two years.
Please, I will be glad. Believe me, I check and respond to emails on that page.

The next point is that I received a lot of offers, both related and not to the last year of my activity. And this is both the creation of films and the organization and implementation of projects.
Will I continue them in the future? Let’s take a look, study the offers and choose what suits me and what I need.

Still, the emphasis is on completing the creation and printing of the book and continuing to study the history of art and searching for points of joint projects in this direction. The choice is aimed at developing programs and projects in this area and related.

The next thing I continue to be interested in is the creation of new forms of selling works from creative people. Well, something that has not yet been created.
This is where I am interested in the geniuses of our planet and their clubs.
After all, I already emphasized at the seminar that creative people are divided into (my opinion) two groups. The first group is absolutely creative people who cannot sell. They can only create. There are many of them. They are passionate about the creation process. And that’s all. There are always such people someone must support and sell their product. It could be an organization, a gallery, a restaurant or a government agency, anyone. Believe me, this is a big win, you can live and make money on this, and an example of this is the same Van Gogh or Picasso, and even Mozart , who during their lifetime did not sell enough, but created a lot. And now their works are wonderfully used by their heirs and generations.
Second people are managers of their creative self.

Unfortunately or fortunately, there are fewer such people and they can be called blacksmiths of their idea, their craft.

They create, analyze, select, study, accumulate and implement.
So it’s no longer a secret for a modern artist that it’s simply impossible to live off drawing alone.

Today you need to work at a surviving job and then relax and draw. And what’s new is that the artist himself must now learn to have many computer skills in order to be able to sell and create himself.

Now we look ten years into the future, the conditions of survival will become even worse. And all this is due to the rapid development of digital.

I am optimistic about these next ten years, because I don’t need any more for my activities, then it will become more and more difficult for me to manage myself. That’s what I’m leading to? I’m leading to the fact that my stage of accumulating my artistic works has almost passed and I am pleased to enter the period of implementing these works, working on transferring my skills to students.
And here is a new announcement. I continue my mentoring work. This is not only icon painting, which I mentioned above. This is also the creation of maser box offices and workshops.

And the last announcement.

Since I have already entered the senior category, I will be happy to celebrate my last visit.

On February 21st, I hosted monthly Seniors’ Advisory Group meeting where I learned a lot of interesting and important things for me as a resident of Etobicoke.

To be continued. Stay, don’t switch