We’re finishing up the weekend’s leftovers and digesting everything that’s happened in the intervening time. A lot has happened, which I want to share with you, and it will take not one, but two new posts.
The past few days have been characterized by a wide variety of current events, which required not only my constant calm but also a keen eye for what’s happening.
It all started with a party in Art Etobicoke,Open Receprion Holiday Partyat Arts Etobicoke’s Storefront Gallery 4893A Dundas Street West,where the creativity of my Toronto neighborhood gathered to meet and discuss current issues and plans.Christmas The Gift Shop Show continue up to December 19,2025 and open during Gallery work from 11.00 am to 4 pm.My Petrykivka Christmas Balls only this time on that location.Take unique gift for your family and my wishes.
Our work, selected by our very demanding jury, was on display. I’m not being sarcastic; it’s true. I’ll even explain later why I wrote that. I was included in this list and am glad that for the second year in a row, I’m presenting my brainchild—every year on this date, in celebration of Christmas, I release a creative, unique, new batch of my Petrykivka-style Christmas balls. This year, with special love, I created a large collection, some of which made it to this bazaar. I’m proud that this small part of me shines with my warmth and love, reflects my light, and is located at Art Etobicoke.
Next year will be a rebuilding one for me, and I’ve already outlined a smaller Petrykivka collection and more large-scale, three-dimensional paintings. As sad as it is to talk about shortcomings, I want to say that I have three exhibitions for which I specifically prepared and submitted my works for jury consideration, and all three were rejected. This was back-to-back, and it hit me hard, as preparing specifically for an exhibition is a huge, colossal amount of work. And a rejection is a slap in the face. But I endure. They are a constant in my life, sometimes a blow, sometimes a carrot.
I’m moving on to volumetric painting, as textured painting is begging to be worked on.
At the same time, I continue to teach the Petrykivka painting courses, which have been successfully held in Ukrainian Canadian Social Service Toronto.
It’s impossible to describe the enormous amount of preparation I put into my courses. It’s a huge responsibility and an honor for me to have an audience. It’s like a mark of distinction, my teaching and mentoring qualities.
So, I’ll let you in on a secret: at home, in absolute silence, I work through every point of my master class. This applies to both the icon painting course and the Petrykivka painting course.
And the response to my enormous work is the gratitude of those present, their interest, and requests to continue the courses.
I’ll add that I developed the patterns and structure of the course individually, taking into account the age and abilities of those present, and understanding that I needed to engage and captivate them, so that they, like me, would understand and embrace this culture. And here, culture and art have won. And I’m very happy. Now, I’m returning to the gallery and working with Toronto organizations. I plan to expand my presence to other Toronto platforms, without focusing on my area, which is quite normal, since a person grows and develops, and paintings require, like dresses, ,,to be walked, walked”, and shown.
This understanding came after visiting the opening of the exhibition, where I was invited New Vistas team Etobicoke Civic Center.
Well, the youth is very avant-garde, they are pushing and bulging with new names, it is such a fierce competition for a place in the artistic world of Toronto, it is style, trends and talents, and with my sharp, always optimistic eye, I see that this is a very strong youth movement. And you are either in it or left behind. I am with them.
A little about the awards.
I’m a longtime volunteer. This has instilled in me a sense of helpfulness and empathy, of organizing and being a small part of Toronto’s big events. This has given me over 10+ years of experience with a huge number of non-profit organizations, art galleries, communities, and festivals. It’s the mutual assistance and support that I feel as part of a larger team. And finally, this year, which was physically challenging for me—I was very ill at the beginning and missed three months of activities—I received awards from three organizations and was included in the list of recipients VAACT.
This is an award given to Toronto’s most distinguished volunteers for their contribution to the volunteer movement.
I received a hat with the logo, which sets me apart from others. It also keeps me warm on cold winter days. I also received a certificate for this year. Although there were people in the audience who completed 17 stamps (I only completed three), this motivates me for next year. Although I understand that my age, workload, and job prevent me from volunteering full-time. It’s impossible for me to do this, so I simply congratulate those who accomplished such tasks.
I remembered a funny episode, not from this year, but from previous ones. I was volunteering at two festivals at once in the same month, and it just so happened that I was busy at work, plus household responsibilities, plus two shifts in one day at festivals, and I was running to the festival, I was late, I put on a festival T-shirt on the tram, I entered the building, I went up to the organizers, and… I realized that I was wearing the wrong T-shirt, I was wearing it to the wrong festival. Not only was I 10-15 minutes late, but I also couldn’t explain anything. Did they understand, or, on the contrary, a music festival, which had a lot of music, smoking, and in general they were so glamorous. They decided to send me down the street about 800 meters to the other end, so that I could put on my T-shirt there, pick up my T-shirt. And come back. While I was running down the street, in the heat, in the second half of the day, another half hour had passed… and back, they met again They saw that I was dressed. And time passed. They sent me back to the 800 meters and I did my shift there. So, another 800. For the third time.
Of course, they didn’t count that day for me (to their regret—I saw this later, when they didn’t add my information to the volunteer page). I don’t know if they were among the organizations this year, but even if they were, I would never have run again—after all, I’m 62. And I don’t smoke weed. These are our successes in our lives. Sometimes it’s something to remember.
But my stubbornness won out and now I’m wearing a hat.
To end this post on an optimistic note, I’ll show you Toronto, where I spent a lot of time this week. I want to point out that although many sacred places, the city’s signature landmarks, are unfortunately closed for renovations and reconstruction, the city is ablaze with installations and decorations for the upcoming Christmas. This holiday, and its continuation, New Year’s, is the most celebrated event in our city, which everyone looks forward to. And it enlivens and beautifies our commercial capital. Many places—hotels, halls of multi-story buildings, restaurants, galleries, and especially Eaton Mall—simply blew our minds with the splendor of the business capital’s decorations.
I consider myself a villager or a resident of a backward area, since my neighborhood is always quiet, sleepy, and, as it is characterized, a “sleeping area.” So, when I come downtown, I am delighted by the decorations, this luxury, and the eternally hurrying crowds of people. And this crowd… and I love to observe people. They know how to relax, they know how to live in the present, they don’t sleep, they are cheerful and sociable. Well, that’s downtown Toronto. Here are a few photos from pre-Christmas downtown Toronto.
Well, I want to wish you to always be optimistic and have faith in yourself and your future.
I was very saddened to hear this year the hissing remark, “She thinks too much of herself.”
Only evil, envious people can say such things. They don’t understand my life, they don’t see the effort I put into creating my art. How much it costs me to promote my passion, whether it’s writing children’s books or creating art paintings or even those same Christmas baubles, which take up to four days of work, not counting the development of a personalized design.
I understand that this person wanted to humiliate me, and after that, this person is forever out of my field of collaboration.
No, this isn’t arrogance or pride, it’s self-defense and protecting myself from harmful people who only want to humiliate.
I recently told my dear friend, a classmate, that we don’t have much time ahead of us, ,,a bright future awaits us”, and we laughed heartily over this phrase—after all, everything is getting harder, more and more physical. We face obstacles, even though our creativity seems to be just beginning to become unique and truly interesting.
All the best to you, my readers.
Strength, faith, and many years of creativity.
