Maria Prymachenko

I'm in the home stretch of this long, l-o-n-g training course I've been taking since last September and hope to get back to art by end of summer at the latest.  I'll be officially done at the end of this month and then need to step back into my regular life with many people and things to catch up on.  A lot of day-to-day life issues had to be put aside, and will need immediate tending when this is over.  Fortunately, it was well worth it, but I'm more than ready to be done.

So today I played hooky and treated myself to a lecture done by the London Drawing Group on the topic:  "A lecture on the life and art of Ukranian artist Maria Prymachenko."  

© Prymachenko Family Foundation, by Maria Prymachenko, Titled: "May I give this Ukrainian bread to all people in this big wide world" (1982). You may have seen this painting as it's one of her most famous.

The lecture was part talk and part drawing/painting practice.  What a life she had!  An impressive example of doing so much with so little in spite of immense hardships, and persevering in her work throughout her long life.  I believe the recording is available through around the 26th of this month but you can go to the URL above and check.

No wonder she is beloved, not just by Ukranians but worldwide.  Amazing folk art.  Here is just one more example to whet your appetite:

© Maria Primachenko, "The Black Beast," 1936.

 Her art is diverse, striking, and so original.  You can find a terrific article (with more paintings) HERE.  The article gives a good idea of the horrors and obstacles she had to overcome in her life, from physical illness to surviving a brutal famine to WWII and even Chernobyl; she was born in 1909 and died in 1997 and apparently painted up until the day she died.

She once apparently said, "Everything is wrong with me but it is alive."

I notice the article says she's not very well-known in the US, but since the start of the war in Ukraine her art has been popping up everywhere.  I was already somewhat familiar with it as I'm major fan of folk art.  Oh, the hooked rugs that could be made with these designs (since I'm a rug hooker)--but of course, they are copyrighted to her and her family foundation, so one would have to be extremely careful not to violate copyright.  Or else to get written permission from the foundation.  

Well worth looking her up and spending time with her art to get inspired.

Meanwhile, I hope to be back posting again soon.