I want to thank everyone who is interested and reading this post now.
Thank you, friends, for being there. This year there were many interesting events related to my artistic activities. I didn’t always have time to report this, and sometimes I was deliberately silent, because I don’t like to discuss , but the year is ending and I’m pleased to resume.
At the beginning of the year, a jury selected my work to make a banner in the city of Pickering near Toronto and now my composition adorns the main street of the city. When I created the banner, I used a composition of the wave or element symbol, which is inherent in the image used in the First Nation in combination with the popular Petrykivka style, Ukrainian traditional style.
I am very pleased with this decision in the style of color. Since the element of water is blue and the city of Pickering is located on Lake Ontario. The flowers depicted on the banner speak of an earthly image. Below is the banner Water Element’s image:
Later, in the summer, I returned to this image and, creating a collection in the Petrykivka style, I depicted this composition on wood again.
Autumn gave me my dream and I flew out of media life for a month and took up icon painting. While teaching lessons, I not only had students, but I myself went through and updated my knowledge. This is how my icons appeared.
A huge incentive for me was the result of the jury, which selected my two works in Petrykivka style for the exhibition Roots, which will open in January 2024 in Toronto.
When I sit down to create a painting, I first of all study my previous works. So, this beautiful painting was created, which is dedicated to my beloved Lvov
And absolutely new two large decorative paintings.These are memories of summer, sun, warmth and flowers, happiness and love. Large butterfly on canvas, made in a mix techniques and creating an extraordinary atmosphere of freshness and joy.
I would like to wish you, my readers, a good next year, health and prosperity to you and your families.
There was a girl, she drew. And here’s how this girl entered the group of the best artists of Ukraine since 2022, how she became an artist. This is a series of films about Helen Polishchuk. Follow the link right now
Modern drawing made in the style of Petrykivka painting by Natalia Stasiv-Garko
It may seem that time is unchanged. More than six months have passed since the last publication. During this time, many events have passed that can be packaged in one word – change. The Chinese, when they want to wish something bad, say that you should live during changes. They make sense because this is the most uncertain time, which slows down any planning, postpones things indefinitely, interferes with meetings and postpones events. But what to do, when this happened to you. Therefore, I will briefly summarize my post.
I’m sure many people have found themselves in this state. Today I am only talking about the present tense. The large collection of wood paintings I created in the traditional Ukrainian style was shown in August and had both positive and negative responses. I may return to the positive ones, but I’ll dwell on the negative ones in more detail. This is my first time painting on wood. I have not done this before. If we approach the creation of the project technically, then its goal was to create mutually complementary objects that together would create the same composition.
Composition of the drawing, completed in Petrykivka style and presented for teaching drawing techniques in a book about Petrykivka painting
The critics felt that I did not perform the traditional Ukrainian Petrikovsky painting correctly, or to put it differently, in an original way. Well, although these critics do not know how to draw and have a superficial understanding, they decided to consider me a failure. I am not defending myself and I am not going to argue. But thanks to the first women (Petrikovsky painting is known for the fact that the first women who mastered it were women who painted the walls of their houses) who painted cockerels, birds and flowers in an absolutely free style and decorated their houses with them, we now have a whole galaxy of artists of this style. If you look at the works of each of them, they are very different and they have in common the creation of a composition around several symbols.
One of the founders of Petrykivka painting in Ukraine Maria Prymachenko
Years have passed and this style, thanks to modern graphic programs, has reached absolute perfection. Moreover, many schools and courses have appeared that are ready to teach you this skill for your money. And yet, based on primary sources, I would advise you to remain tied to the three fundamentals of this painting – creativity, composition around symbols and image technique.
One of the famous paintings created by Maria Primachenko
That’s why I wished and wish today to everyone who is fighting for something, look at the primary sources and add your creativity – you will succeed.
Another painting by Maria Prymachenko, the founder of Petrykivka painting
The most interesting thing in learning any folk painting is mastering the principles. Although I will now be criticized again, the founders of this type of painting did not interconnect the composition; many objects of the composition were, as it were, separated. If you look at photographs of one of the first creators of this type of painting, you can see how stamping, the creation of separate drawings, which are located one next to the other.
Modern apartment decor in Petrykivka style
Two centuries ago, the goal for artists was to create a drawing that would create coziness in the room, protect it and harmonize with everyday life. Therefore, cheerful roosters and hens, wonderful bright princes with colorful plumage and long multi-colored tails, flowers of unusual shapes and color harmony appeared on the walls.
It was rural folklore, the art of the country people who decorated their homes. And today, Ukrainian artists have supplemented and improved it and created masterpiece collections of paintings, introducing this type of art into the traditional Ukrainian folk art. I’ll return to my collection. Drawing on wood requires its own skill. Technically, this is a more long-term work, and I was also required to create compositions on two chests, several kitchen boards, kitchen wooden shelves, souvenir wooden houses, Christmas tree decorations and sections of wood. I also tried painting on bags.
Photo from exhibition where was present my new collection.
I liked the combination of animals with modern elements. I took the cat as a symbol on the bag. That’s why I received criticism.
Another part of the collection among the exhibits on display
I’ll wait until the passion to ruin someone subsides and all this settles down and still, I’ll remain silent. Someone else criticized that I was too confident in myself. Friends, no. I hid, broke all my brushes, threw away the paints and am sitting waiting for something else to come to me. I would like your problems. Today I have donated several works to auctions and I believe that they will be useful. Tomorrow is not predictable for me, I will say one thing – only those who do not do and do not create are not mistaken. And I am again full of news and ideas, which I will tell you about in the next post. All the best
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The author of this poem sent it to me by mail. I agreed with the author that our Canadian actor from Kyiv, Oksana Smilska, can read it best of all.
Oksana created an audio track. And the poem was lying on my table, waiting for its time. And now, when its time came and I started editing the video, I just dropped my hands from the difficulties.
A special heartfelt poem, a very talented performance by the actress put me in a corner. I understood that she had to create a script. He and she. The conflict is when She realizes that he has betrayed, that he is lying and will continue to betray and forgives him. But here, attention forgives, but does not agree with him, but tells him that your humiliation of me is wrong, I am fit to be loved and I will find myself a loved one. And in this sense, in this scenario, I created this mini-film. It is to show that in no case should you humiliate yourself and give in, but you need to free yourself and find someone who loves you.
It is very important to convey this to young people who do not know how to deal with conflicts. The fact is that a few years ago I studied this topic by writing one of my first scripts, and then, unfortunately, I found a lot of psychological training about what is possible and what is not. What is bad and what is good. But these trainings do not go beyond these terms. There are many films, serials, they end in a crisis. So, He tormented Her and either they broke up, or He left. No. Most often He tormented, tormented and will continue to torment. And the healing or the way out is not to call yourself a victim, but to decide for yourself what is important in order to become happy. With such thoughts, I sat down to create this mini film and this video appeared. It is difficult, but it is. I will review the year. I always do this, the video will lie down and I will open it in time, I will look with a new fresh look. And today I am publishing it for you. Undoubtedly, a very good poem and work by Oksana Smilska.
The year flew by quickly and intensely, and now it’s December. Last month of the year. As always, let’s sum up the history of plans for the next year.
Summing up the results of the year, I confess that the year had everything – losses, failures, new trials, rest and travel, and of course awards.
Of the losses associated with this terrible year, these are the losses of people close to me. I was left without my mother, and although she died after a long illness, but I miss her so much. I left my parents very early and began to live on my own. Therefore, my parents were a place for me to hurry back to, like in childhood. However, everything changes. The loss of loved ones is always painful.
The war that is now on the territory of my country also affects. At the beginning, I couldn’t get used to it, I suffered from insomnia, called my friends a lot, tried to help, volunteer. Later I tried to create conditions when my real help would be useful. But you can’t get used to the war and I, like many people, dream that the war ends.
I spent three months of spring in the international project “Children War Ukraine”. This is an online project that connected children and is aimed at developing their abilities and desire for creativity. I created videos for poems written by children. The project helped popularize the creativity of Ukrainian children.
In the spring, a significant event was the organization of the performance “Mazeppa” at the Zahrava Theater in Toronto. I am glad that the theatre, despite many difficulties, has released a performance and I am doubly glad that several strong participants have been added to its group. I wish them further growth and success in their difficult work.
Throughout the year I drew a lot and this could not but affect my work. As quarantine restrictions eased and galleries began to open, I became a participant of many with great enthusiasm. Pictures created by me over the past year can be viewed on social networks. There is a page on facebook created by me
https://www.facebook.com/helenpolishukart
Please, subscribe to it so that you are always aware of my new work.
From the latest news related to galleries, I am participating in the exhibition, which will be held from December 6 to December 24 2022 at Cloverdale Mall Etobicoke Ontario.This is an exhibition of works that have passed the competitive selection of the jury of Art Etobicoke. It is a pleasure for me to present two works there, which are very dear to me. I publish them here with a little descriptions about:
I exhibited as the best work of this year my painting POPPIES, created in the spring of 2022 and dedicated to all the soldiers who died in the war. This is the grief of mothers, this is the pain of wives and children, this is the groan of the land on which the war is going on. The picture was created in memory of the dead soldiers, whose names will remain in our memory.
Poppies (2022)
Materials: acrylic on canvas
The second painting presented at the exhibition is a painting MY DREAM created in 2017 and this is my calling card.This painting from her creation and during gallery life, the painting has an interesting history. For the first time it was exhibited at an online gallery in the UK. Six months later, I stopped working with the gallery and the painting moved online to France, to an online gallery(she is lucky, she moved without problems and payment in the Internet space).
My Dream (2017)
Materials:oil on canvas
The painting was created very quickly ,like it was drawn by itself. I don’t remember exactly, but the idea came instantly: a couple of strokes, oil sketches, then quickly quickly and by nightfall it was almost created. After drying I just tweaked the shadows a little. It felt like she wanted to be created by me. This happens with artists. Going back to 2017, like this 2022, it was very creative year and a lot of paintings were created.
Having got to the selection of the jury, the picture had to be framed and organized for the exhibition. And here is the story again. I looked for many frames, but none of them matched the color or size. Already tired of searching and giving up ready-made frames, I decided to order at the store, but it was closed there. I returned to the search for ready-made ones and an hour before submitting paintings to the exhibition. I found a frame that not only displayed the depth of the picture in golden color, but also decorated it and added value to it. The picture came to life. This is a real miracle.
And last painting with award:
Water Element(2022)
Materials: acrylic on canvas
Describing the last awards of the year, I want to note another victory in the selection of banners by the jury for the city of Pickering. This painting is especially dear to me, as it is a symbol of the unity of Ukrainian and Canadian art. In this picture, which I specially created for this competition, the element of water is in its design.
The city of Pickering is located on the coast of Ontario and has a nuclear power plant. It depends on the element of water. Water is a symbol of the life of this city. Therefore, it is depicted in the center of the painting.
Envelops its flowers, painted in the Petrykivka style.
In the style that I paint, continuing the old Ukrainian traditions. And it is so well combined. It was noticed by the jury and selected for a banner.
Now my work in the coming year will hang on the main street of the city and decorate and delight.
That’s all news for today. Don’t leave, there’s more to come soon
