Legacy. Turquoise 1. Art with a Story Painting

My grandmother was an artist, though she never would have considered herself to be one. Born in 1910, she knew tragedy and hardship from a young age. Both her parents died of typhoid fever when she was only 12 years old. As the oldest child after her parents’ deaths she automatically became the guardian to all four of her younger siblings, a typical situation in the early twentieth century in the Eastern European country of Belarus. I do not know exactly when she started making her art, but by age of 23 she was a professional weaver, famous in her area for making the most beautiful and colorful throw blankets. Neither hard work at her little farm from sunrise to sunset, nor multiple chores as a wife and a mother of three children, could keep her away from her weaving. There were no stores to buy yarn for her work, so she made it herself: collecting wool from her sheep, then spinning, cleaning, and dyeing the yarn. All of this was hard and complicated work, but it was also the only way to get everything she needed for her weaving. In 1941 the Second World War and German occupation came into her village and brought even more difficulties into her already hard life. Risking her life, she hid Russian men who had escaped from a German concentration camp in her barn. She also rescued a little Jewish girl named Sophia from a Jewish ghetto by bargaining with German soldiers to give her a child for two chicken eggs. All the while, she managed to keep her own children fed and alive, and still continued making her weaving art. It all deserves to be written in a book. Perhaps I inherited her passion for making art. I do not weave, though I tried a couple of times at Grandma's loom and as a child was fascinated by the process. However, I do paint with oils. One day I decided to combine the art my grandmother was making and the art I make. The idea was to transfer Grandma’s throw blanket patterns to the canvas, giving them new life. Why? First, because I like them—the patterns and colors mesmerize me every time I look at my grandma’s blankets. Second, I want to continue that almost forgotten art, though in a different form and medium. Third, it connects me with my past, with dearest relatives who are no longer with me. And lastly, I do it, because I want to share the amazing story of my grandmother, a story of hard work, patience, and integrity! This is my first painting in a series of ornamental Belarusian artworks.

Painting:Oil on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:36 W x 24 H x 2 D in

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