The Art Of Tradition, Peace And Generosity

I had not heard of the Ukrainian Artist Maria Prymachenko until a few weeks ago. She lived from1909 - 1997.Born into very humble circumstances, and self taught, her paintings were inspired by the traditions of her native culture, and motivated by a desire to spread love, peace and joy. She never sought to make money from her art- but gave away her pictures . She was recognised by Unesco, and admired by Pablo Picasso. You can read lots about her here  Or just watch this brief video.

Here is a collage of some of her cheerful, colourful art- some rural scenes- and some crazy,  fantastical rainbow coloured beasts.

Kirsten read about her whilst she was looking for an idea for her next piece of stitching for the Postcard Project - and was especially sad to realise that 25 of her lovely paintings had been destroyed when the Russians set fire to one of Ukraine's Museums. One of Maria's paintings "A Wild Chaplun" was put on postage stamps in 1999 [I cannot find out what sort of animal a chaplun is, though, maybe Maria made up the name...]

Kirsten has embroidered this, in the most incredible detail, as the stamp on one of our postcards. I think it is utterly stunning

We are both enjoying stitching this collaborative project - the challenge to learn new techniques, and the freedom to find subjects which are relevant to our lives and to the world around us. I am so glad we are working on it together!