#photos Archives - Helen Polishuk Blog

Travel to the island

May 27, 2025June 16, 2025 Helen Polishuk

Every city that is located on a large body of water, on the ocean, on a lake or river, has islands near it.
Historically, or it is the help of nature, I do not know, but in our life it is always a very interesting addition to the existence of the city itself.
To say that the island and the city are interconnected – no. They exist independently of each other and their presence only adds zest to the existence of the city itself.
To go out for a day, or for a few hours, or for a day with an overnight stay – it is pleasant, interesting and a certain experience.
Toronto Island is several islands that are connected by this name. There are bridges and connections between them. There is a domestic Toronto airport on this island. Therefore, you can always see how planes land on the island. It is especially interesting to watch in cloudy weather, when clouds cover visibility above the fifth floor and you can see how suddenly an airplane takes off from dark clouds and slowly lands on the island. All houses with a view of the lake in the central part of Toronto have such a pleasure.
But I’ll start everything in order, namely along the route that I’ll share today.

Of course, I will comment on everything that I liked along the way. So, I got on the subway at Bathurst St.Whether it’s my love for murals or classicism with baroque, I was struck and liked this mural opposite the enter on the subway.

I took the 510 streetcar to Spadina and rode along the street, enjoying the morning city. Few people talk about the day off. And it helps me to look at the drawings on the walls of the houses and admire the old and new buildings.

Tim Hortons is open as always and it’s impossible to resist its smell.

Well, that’s understandable. With the onset of warm weather, the city begins to undergo repairs and is all in traffic jams, congestion and repair scaffolding.

How old houses with aluminum high-rises are structured is visible in this video. There is a mixture of cultures, styles and times.

The presence of the CNTower on the horizon indicates that we are in the city center and approaching the embankment.

I got out on the embankment and calmly walked to the meeting place, to the entrance to the pier.

The meeting was scheduled near the statue of Jack Layton near Jack Layton Ferry Terminal.

Jack Gilbert Layton was a Canadian academic and polistican who served as a Leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011.

Bronze sculpture of Jack Layton was unveilled in 2013 at Toronto island ferry terminal.

Symbolizm of this bike:,,Together you support each other,just like a community.”

Layton on the back seat of tandem bicycle,much like one he rode with his family,with the front seat open for people to hop on and take pictures.

My route went from the farry station to the island.

I will immediately note that despite the early hour and the day off, there were a lot of people near the pier. People gathered in families and groups. Many moved with fishing gear and their own bicycles. The weather did not promise to be either warm or sunny. Cold, constant, strong, gusty rain.

Having bought a ticket, you find yourself waiting for the ferry to arrive and, having gathered with the passengers, you simply wait until you can take a seat on the ferry. Seats are on a first come, first served basis. But there are a lot of seats, some on top to watch and take photos and some inside the ferry. There is always enough space for everyone.

You can spend a whole day on the island. And although it is small, there are many interesting entertainments, many parks and attractions, specially organized places for children, where there is a small zoo, a cable car and even a railway. And all this together is very interesting and attractive.

There are many recreation areas on the island, there are tables and there are playgrounds where you can relax and sit with family and friends, there are cafes and restaurants.

Well, and the number of flowers, beautiful parks and blossoming trees, I just keep quiet, because in spring everything comes to life and this range of floral delight simply envelops. This year, for the first time on the island, there is such a service that you can rent a bike and ride from one side of the island to the other, walk in the most interesting places. Everywhere there are devices to put the bike and go have a coffee.

It gives me great pleasure to see beautiful tulips.

So, the ferry arrived, the doors opened and everyone waiting went to take their seats. I climbed onto the deck, I wanted, like many others, to photograph the view of the city from the ferry.

There were many ferries nearby. They go to the island strictly according to the hours and schedule. One comes, another goes to the island.

You can sit on the deck and calmly watch the waves gently rock the ferry. Perhaps in winter or during a strong storm, the waves are high. But today the weather is very spring-like and the trip from morning to evening will be eventful.

So, we unmoored, the horn blew and the ferry slowly went along the water.
The distance between the Toronto shore and the island is small, it takes 15-20 minutes.
The island became an island not very long ago.
It was part of a sand dune on the Scarborough Banff side. But then it washed away and the island separated and began to live its own life.

From the ferry station there are three directions of piers on the island.
There are a huge number of taxis that take you for 13 dollars one way.
The ferry costs 10 dollars round trip.

This is a wonderful photo, a beautiful view, because of which this trip happened.
View of Toronto from the ferry that goes to Toronto Island.
About what I saw and where I visited on the island in the next post.

I want to remind you that there is still a sale of my paintings and you can take advantage of the biggest discount of 20% off use code SUNBEAM20

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

About traditions

January 27, 2025January 30, 2025 Helen Polishuk

My admiration for the art of the ancient and modern East knows no bounds. I am inspired by their elegance and careful observance of traditions. Imagine that most often in the shops at the bazaar or in the salons of small workshops you find entire generations of masters who have dedicated their lives to the work that their great-grandfather and father did. Wood inlay, olive wood carving, ornamentation on the walls and ceilings of mosques – all this is masterfully executed work that is passed down from generation to generation. And despite all the changes taking place in the East with the change of borders of countries and their existence, these people remain devoted to their craft. Simple, talented, modest masters who will take with them their accumulated knowledge, just as the masters who created the Persian rock baleriefs of Mesopotamia once disappeared.

(the combination of carving, inlay and very fine workmanship, finished in silver, creates the shine and magnificence of this door)

I have already described my admiration for the wooden door, made of silver inlay with mother-of-pearl. I will show you its appearance here.
But this is the smallest gold that I would note as a reward for love of the East.
I want to tell you that from the first books that were written in Arabic there are interesting books that we will talk about.

Masnavi by Rumi

This is an interesting collection of jokes and stories taken from the Koran, Hadith stories and simply Persian tales.

Can you, my readers, imagine the old days when books first appeared? That is, letters, written words, paper on which they wrote, and all this was formed into books. Books were written specifically for preservation and transmission to posterity, therefore, rules of conduct and lessons for edification, social order, descriptions of stories, examples of how to live and coexist were written in books. But also, the wise Persians had funny stories and jokes. Everything for the family, so to speak. In one book you could find everything

This is wisdom.
This is Eastern, Islamic wisdom. It would be interesting to get a translation of these stories, because they focus on Sufi interpretations.

This is a work of Rumi – spiritual couplets. And it is the Koran in Persian. It is a six-volume poem.

It was written by Mawlada Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi, who lived 1207-1273, a Sufi poet, Islamic theologian, faqih. He is originally from the region of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, those places are also called Balkh and therefore he is sometimes called Balkh. His influence, after he created this poem, goes far beyond his place of residence and covers Turks, Greeks, Pashtuns, Persians. His poems have been translated into many languages of the world, and what is interesting is that he has become the best-selling poet in the United States in the modern world.

What is especially interesting is that his poems have received recognition both in the Arab world and in the Persian world, they have been translated and today they are read both in the original language and in translation. His works have influenced the popularity of Persian literature, the literary tradition of the Persians.
I do not really understand what the differences are, so I ask if anyone knows more, please help me and correct me if I am wrong.
After the death of his father, his son, in order to perpetuate the glory of his father’s works, founded the Sufi order of Mavavi, in whose rituals the works of Rumi are used.
Remember those dancing darvishes in Turkey, who spin around themselves, twisting until they feel weightlessness? These darvishes, these men in long white dresses with caps on their heads, who can dance their amazing dances for a very long time, mastering weightlessness and standing firmly, not falling, dancing in a circle. Rami was their spiritual ancestor.
Very interesting.
Rum, Rumi – something familiar. Oh, yes. After all, this is the name of Byzantium, ancient Byzantium, Byzantine Anatolia, a place in southern Turkey. Before the conquest of this place by the Persians and Islamic Turks, it was known as Rome. Roman places. In Arabic, “Rumi” – Roman. Perhaps this refers to the Romans who lived in those places, to the Anatolian areas themselves. In Turkey, there is a tomb of Rumi – also known as the Mevlana Museum – in the city of Konya, Türkiye.

Rumi was from a family of a noble court theologian and his family faced flight, poverty and wandering because of the Mongol invasion of their state of Khorasan. They stopped in the region of southern Turkey, among the Seljuk Turks, where young Rumi received an education and was imbued with a Sufi mood. The most interesting thing that I would like to emphasize is that all the troubles, wars, the death of his son – strengthened him in his views and in old age he devoted himself to literature and preaching. Although his legacy is small, it is very significant. In his poems, he glorifies man, the values of man, his greatness. And this was revolutionary for the society of that time, since it went against the religious teachings of that time.

And thanks to this, his Masnavi appears – the most widely read poem in the world from his legacy. These are couplets in rhyme. And although there is no connection in his work, the tempo and rhythm are felt. The author wrote his work in part already reading it to his student – and here is the purest crystal purity of relations – no one appropriated it, did not sign under the lines, but passed it on, put it on paper and left a legacy as the work of Rami, indicating that the student wrote it. Rumi’s wisdom is beautiful and his poems are magnificent. His tone and tact in writing couplets is beautiful, it is refined and light. And it conveys the mood and talent of Rumi. At least that passage that is known to everyone – about the elephant. That everyone who touched the elephant described it in the dark as if they were feeling a certain part of the animal. And the end of the story is that everyone called it in their own way without seeing everything in general, but if they had turned on the light……
Beautiful…..

January 26,2025

I express my gratitude to the @AgaKhanMuseum Toronto

All exhibits shown in the post are exhibits of the museum and are presented for viewing. There is nothing better than looking at the past through today’s history. Thank you.

How to create three short films in a year and half

May 7, 2021May 7, 2021 Helen Polishuk

Hi, I’m back and this is great news not only for me but also for you.

So, my website has been updated and, as you can see, it has become more thoughtful and interesting

I’ll give you a short tour to my website right away, and I’ll create a video late.

In the meantime, I will briefly tell you about the website. This is a personal site and there you can reed not only the first posts about how I learned English, learned to write blogs,how I drew and tried to sell through the website my paintings,how I shared my thoughts and reflections with you.

my photo from 2013

Now I released share for you news from the world of cinema on the front pages,in my blog and in my future posts.

Yes, I am a filmmaker, my last third of my life is associated with making films.

my filmmaker’s experience

And here, on this site, I will tell you about the news from my world of cinema. Here you will not only hear an interview with me, watch my films, read publications about me, but you will also discuss with me on the most pressing topics about movies, even share your thoughts .

Together we are strong.

So let’s go.

We stopped in 2020. Yes, it has been an unpredictable year.

Suddenly, we became hostages of our own fears and found ourselves in conditions completely unknown for us.

At point A, where the last post stopped, my first film was still being created and I sat day and night at the editing. How much strength was in me then !!! All the past years, drop by drop, step by step, I went to say one day, tomorrow there will be filming. The script has already been written, the actors have been selected, the shooting scheme has been worked out.

But the insecurity was sat in me.

But I overcame it.

The film was shot. I sweated on editing – I had not created films before. I had to learn a lot of new things – editing, color correction, voice acting. When the film was ready, I found a festival of children’s films in Kiev, wrote to them and prepared to fly to Kiev. But upon arrival, quarantine began, the festival was closed unopening and I was in quarantine for a month and a half. This was my first quarantine.

Of course, since that period there have been changes that have affected not only me, but all the inhabitants of the planet.

Sitting on the bed, closed from communication, I wrote a comedy with inspiration about the situation I was in, about quarantine and an epidemic.

With the increase in quarantine and the addition of my experiences to the script, the comedy turned into a tragicomedy, and the script had to be folded and finished, because I found a way to still return between the quarantines in Toronto, to my family.

With a finished tragicomedy, with Angela’s useless short film, left without work, I flew to Toronto.

And then that second and very interesting stage began, after which everything around me changed. Despite the failures, the second and not the last quarantine, I found funds and create a comedy about a dog. Why? I wanted to paint the tragedy and panic in society. I wrote a comedy script, shot and edited a film about Mimmy.

Mimmi’s Adventures,comedy about small dog.

I sent out both films to festivals through the FilmFreeway platform and my films started touring the festivals. You can watch the trailers of my films at the beginning of the website on the main page.

When the films began to be selected for festivals and receive awards, I realized what the festivals needed and created the dream of every American to make a film about fear. Horror.

I created Fear.

You will find a trailer for it on the main page too. Please write to me, you see the picture, the image of the video or it is not of high quality to you.

It is important for me to show you quality

So one and a half years passed unnoticed.

And here I am again with you in point B (not at the end)page

Helen Polishuk

Toronto

May 2021

What is relevant in Kiev in the autumn of 2018

November 7, 2018November 10, 2018 Helen Polishuk

If I want to see the work of other artists, to understand the style of today’s art, to get acquainted from the work of other people or to understand what is now relevant, always go to the gallery.
Since I am now in Kiev, for me the most interesting exhibition is in the Pinchuk Art Gallery.
For more than ten years, his collection is always interesting.
I enjoyed visiting the exhibition in November 2018.

Today’s exhibition is dedicated about woman:
,,Woman and ex-USSR.,,
,,Woman and socialism.,,
,,Creativity of women in post-socialism.,,
,,What happened to a woman in the USSR,,

Strange choice. Strange, dirty, tangled thoughts, shows naked women.
Statue of women chained in concrete (monumentalism)
In short, art is on the verge of burning out.
Three floors with different rooms. In one hall, the author from the European Union collects water from the Dnieper, makes a block of ice, drains it into a tank and pours it into the Dnieper. He fights for the purity of nature.
And in other halls there is a struggle around a woman, so I will call everything that I saw.
In fact, scary.
In socialism, everything that was created by Eastern society suffered for so long.
Erasing the line between a man and a woman.
And the show wants to show both crap and results. Both are very sad.
The fact that women’s rights are violated ….is….. yes.
And the fact that it is too late to realize that, the whole world has changed….it… is.

So,my conclusions:there is art and artists react to what happened to them.

Folk art is gathered in one room.

It is creativity of not professional female artists. There are primitive paintings,but they are bright.

I have heard about the curtains, embroidered in the style of the Kama Sutra, about sex. But I saw them for the first time

The next exhibit — it seems to me, is an angel wing.
But prayer is on him.
Maybe it is map of country.
It’s like a picture made from a piece of wood.

Back to the murals on the walls:

Paintings in style resembling painted walls in thatched houses. Often it was painted by women to decorate their houses and decorate them.

Exhibited by one painting of famous folklore artists Maria Priymachenko

and Katerina Belokur

Both women create to decorate walls with animals and flowers.
And payment for creativity, they were whole life lonely.

This is a difficult legacy of our time – a woman and loneliness. A high percentage of women in the country live by themselves, alone. Many divorces. Many raise children themselves. It is very difficult in our time. Very difficult.
Therefore, probably, I was interested in the posters of the builders of socialism.
Motivation simply destroys the authenticity of women. And the goal is aimed right at the heart, let’s drop everything, go work, go build, go help.
Fearfully

Each of these posters symbolizes a woman, as a country, as a motherland, as a mother:

But there were very few in really.

Women- go to work in collective farms….and they went, worked very hard.

Woman- help rebuild the country.

Women -workers of the USSR.

This is a very interesting poster – a woman if she becomes in government , she will help the growth of culture

Through DD societies destroy orphanage and homelessness.

Gymnasts and gymnasts is the pride of our country.
This poster is still relevant.

This is the subject of today’s block.
I didn’t take a lot of photos.
I watched a very difficult movie. I watched it completely.
Movie was shot in the 1990s and I did not agree with the main idea of the film . So that the author understand what happens with Ukraine. Tied up with ropes, a naked, torn, raped woman.
But this is the judgment of the author.
I take a more conservative position in such decisions.
I change everything with love.

That’s all for today.

Helen

fall art

October 24, 2016December 11, 2017 Helen Polishuk

I again change the plans and showing you the beauty and brilliance of fall.

How bright paint play with light….just wonderful….

I can not stop looking at this game….

for me it is a dance..
dance between light and shadow…
dance between heat and cold…
dance between the summer and autumn…

once the weather is warmer and then windy and cold…

the wonderful dance of nature and time

I remind you that on this website, and photos and pictures and video made by me.

Also my social links

twitter:lenchik63

Facebook:www.facebook/elena/polishuk.7

Insagram:polishukelena

Pinterest:helenpolishuk

and that’s not all 🙂