More Ukraine Travels

Trident ('Tryzyb') in lights, Kyiv, Independence Day 2011

I had an opportunity to visit Ukraine again immediately after Bead Fest in Philadelphia. Traveling through different time zones via Paris made it possible to arrive in Kyiv on Aug 24th, Independence Day. This was the 20th anniversary, an important milestone, but a strain was felt after a tumultuous day of celebrations.

20th Anniversary of Independence commemorative stamps

The timing of this trip was perfect because it gave me another opportunity to personally photograph new regions of Ukraine for my ongoing photo essays. While preparing a new "Tour of Gerdany Regions in Ukraine" PowerPoint, I thought it would be nice for viewers to tour all of the country to better appreciate the regional differences. "Ethnographic Regions of Ukraine" came together quickly using most of my own photos from various visits to half of Ukraine.

Premiered together with "Ethnographic Regions", Aug 2011

Here was my chance to add Crimea and the Black Sea, as well as the scenes along the drive back to Kyiv.

El Anatsui's ROM Installation

Fragment of "Straying Continents", 2010

Started off the New Year with a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Was blown away by Anatsui's art. First went to see the 4th floor exhibit "When I last Wrote to You about Africa". It was a retrospective of Africa's contemporary artist's forty years of painting, sculpture, woodwork and metal multi-element compositions. No photos allowed... that's okay.... I took mental snapshots.

I really liked the compositions of aluminum and copper wire. They started with a discarded bag of liquor bottle caps. It's amazing how many different ways a cap can be cut, folded, punched and twisted! This alone was a lesson in playing and trying out all kinds of ways to manipulate whatever your medium may be!

Close-up of metal liquor bottle caps

Lucky for me, the ROM commissioned a wall installation called "Straying Continents", 2010. It's installed on entry wall of the 3rd floor ROM Crystal. Thank goodness I had my iPhone to photograph sections of an incredible installation.

Fragment of "Straying Continents" by El Anatsui, ROM, 2010

I found Anatsui's work fresh and inspirational. He plays with color, patterns, textures, negative space, layering. Reminded me of beadwork on a large scale.

Fragment of "Straying Continents", 2010

Merry Christmas

Christmas Tree in Toronto

Hard to believe it's Christmas Day already! I had many good intentions and lots of traditions I like to observe. By the time I got around to them all, here we are blogging on Christmas Day in Detroit!

This year's Christmas card mailing was huge! Twice the usual amount because I combined it with thank yous to all the wonderful people I met in Ukraine in my family visits, folk arts and beadwork research quest. How do you stop and print a few photos for keepsakes when you snapped 2,000+? There goes a full week/weekend trying to edit and selectively print "just a few"... Then there's the handwriting of each card. Began to feel like a dinosaur when I mentioned it to folks. Seems like cardwriting has fallen out of favor in today's busy crazy times. I continued on because I believe it's important to personally thank each and everyone and send a token photograph of our good times... they'll get it in time for Ukrainian Christmas on the Jan 7th.

My husband Eugene picked up the tree and decorated it while I continued writing cards. The baking was done in shifts. Pinwheel and honey poppyseed log cookies were sliced and baked on the 23rd morning before packing. The baking pans and ingredients for other favorites were thrown in to finish baking in Detroit once we arrived after a white-knuckled drive down Hwy 401 near Ingersoll, ON.

Yesterday morning I assembled gift cookie plates. Then worked on a few gifts and off to my brother's we drove for a Christmas Eve celebration. Family and friends came from far and wide. Traditions were observed. New twists were added. It was really nice... perfect! Later, we drove down to my parish for Midnight Mass. The church was full of families and classmates because everyone came "home for the holidays". What a wonderful time...

Christmas Eve 2010 in MI - Maria & Eugene

Merry Christmas! Best wishes to all for a Blessed and Peaceful Christmas. May the spirit of the season continue throughout the year.

Snowflake Decorations

Snowflake ornament on my tree

"Snowflakes", TBS 2011 Calendar, December

It's hard to believe it's time to decorate the tree again.... Luckily, I have some of my snowflakes handy from last year. Glass bugles, seed beads and Swarovski crystals never spoil... Since they're specially interlocked in like a fan around a circle of beads, they keep their shape forever.

This extraordinary snowflake can be made quickly once you get the knack after you've made your first one. A very fine beading wire, .010 SoftTouch by Softflex, is the secret to holding the crystal-tipped long bugle V's in place around the circle of seed beads.

Several ways to get the instructions: See page 90-91 of Beaded Ornament for the holidays and Beyond from Bead and Button and BeadStyle Magazines by Kalmach Publishing Co., 2009.

Order an all-inclusive Snowflake kit with a choice of 15mm, 20mm or 30mm bugles and crystal pearl or silver-shade vitrial finish from Rypan Designs. Or get patterns for use with your own bugles and crystals. The instructions are available in printed pattern with a Supply List or a downloadable .pdf. Shortly it will be available in a Ukrainian .pdf version soon as I get the illustrations matched up to my translations.

Glamorous Channel Chains

Chandelier Earring

Perfect for the holidays. All Swarovski-ELEMENTS here... The Chandelier Earrings and Cuff use several lengths of channel chain and have 4mm bicones between the links. Glamorous dangles of a bicone sandwiched between two pearls finish off each bicone stack on the bracelet. There's a lot of versatility and room for creativity in the earrings. Choose to add a bicone dangle or end it with a cup chain. It's also an excellent exercise for working with head and eye pins.

The Channel Chain accessories were created for teaching at Swarovski NA Ltd's beadwork classes in Tucson. I have a few more limited edition kits. The instructions are all color photographs because the components and methodology are unique. There are four variations for finishing of the Chandelier earrings. Patterns are available for your unlimited creativity.

Channel Chain Cuff

You have to admit this is a departure from my usual beadweaving. Working with the channel chain was so much fun. It was very satisfying to step outside the box with such glamor.

Iryna Senyk's 1st Anniversary

Iryna Senyk 1926-2009

It's hard to believe a year has gone by since dissident Iryna Senyk passed away in Boryslaw, Ukraine. It's ironic that she was returned "home" to Lviv, albeit she was forbidden to live here after her release from 34 years of prison and exile. Boryslaw was exactly 100 km away from Lviv, so that became "home".

Iryna's death was definitely the end of an era of heroines and start of a new one. She started a fresh new row of OUN Freedom Fighters at the entrance to Lviv's venerable Lychakiv Cemetery. I visited her grave on my way back from both of my great grandmothers and relatives.

I've included the story of Iryna embroidering prison numbers with a fishbone for a needle and her signature miniatures in my newest presentation about "Embellishing Your World: Beading and Surface Designs". It also includes a few slides about the "White Aster of Love" Book Project.

People marvel how someone who was surrounded by horror, could create such beauty. Very inspiring....

Slide from "Embellishing Your World: Beading & Surface Designs" PowerPoint

Iryna's marker at Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv

Iryna Senyk's grave in the OUN section of Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv

"Вічна її пам'ять"

Presentations in Ukraine

How appropriate for the PowerPoint slide from OH to be the lead in for my presentations in Ukraine...

So much has transpired between the visit to the Ukrainian Museum-Archives Aug 13th and Sep 13th. There was a visit to an amazing Pysanky Museum in Reading, PA on the way to Bead Fest at Valley Forge. Then there was a two week trip to Ukraine for research and family visiting. I have tons of photos and stories!! These will be told a little at a time between shows and trips.

Maria at entrance to Ivan Honchar Museum, Kyiv, Ukraine

It was a great pleasure and privilege to share my "Contemporary Beadwork in Ukraine" PowerPoint with beaders and folk art enthusiasts in Ukraine.

I thought it would be interesting to show my presentation to master craftsmen, beaders, museum directors and staff who graciously allowed me to photographed some beadwork in their "fondy" archives. I wanted to show them how I've incorporated their work and stories into one of my many presentations. This one covered the different styles of beadweaving, gerdany, loomwork, embroidery with beads, metalwork, wirework, beaded eggs, etc.

I presented the "Contemporary Bead in Ukraine" twice. First on Sep 6th at the Educational Metodogical Center in Ivano Frankivsk, Western Ukraine. Then on Sep 13th in a great hall lined with display cases full of incredible artifacts at the Ivan Honchar Museum in the capital Kyiv.

A photograph is worth a 1000 words and provides a

stunning contrast to my contemporary outfit.

The Ivan Honchar Museum is dedicated to preserving traditional

folk arts through photograph and artifact collecting.

Maria tells about Ina Wasylkevych's cabochons and leatherwork in Truskavets.

A great buzz was created at the Honchar Museum

It was really wonderful to see so many beaders hanging on to every word, even photographing the the slides as I was showing them. Great questions came afterwards, as well as even greater expectations and ideas of what to do next.

Thanks to my brother, Paul Wasylkevych, for the photos and assistance with the PowerPoint presentation.

Mi'kmaq Museum, NS

Travel necessities - map, camera, beads, stringing material, brochures

Mother Nature forced us to find an indoor activity. The Glooscap Heritage Centre in Truro, NS had an amazing bilingual multimedia presentation about the history and folklore of First Nations people and early European immigrants.

The artifacts were displayed in cabinets equipped with press buttons which shed light on the objects when touched. While this was a great preservation idea, it was a bit of a challenge when taking pictures. We had fun trying to photograph the displays with one hand on the button and one on the camera. No complaints when a friend pressed the far corner one for an overall lit shot.

Here are two examples of traditional quill work with an introduction of a beaded trim. These are ideal for inclusion in my new seminar "Embellishing Your World: Beading and Surface Designs" which I will be presenting at the Creativ Festival this October.

Bead Oasis first time in Halifax, NS

Textured Net class photo by CTV reporter

Day I: These ladies definitely enjoyed my Netting Intro class at the Canadian Bead Oasis Show. They got to choose their style from an assortment of beadwork kits so we could get right to learning about beadweaving and the technique. We were thrilled to be filmed while beading during class and then again at the end when one student gave feedback about the workshop. CTV ran this with their feature about the first bead show ever coming to Halifax on "Live at Five".

Jean and Maria showing off their 'V's

Day 3: Jean wears her Scythian Gold V necklace which she started in a 3-hour Friday afternoon class. On Saturday she brought in the embellished mirror image of what she began the day before to my Cascading Twig Chip class. Since the bulk was done, I joked about completing the whole thing for the end of the show. That evening Jean managed to finish the netted bands and make a beaded ball clasp for her necklace. Here she is wearing the finished piece on Sunday. That's determination... inspiration...

Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, NS

It wasn't all hard work in the Maritimes.... I went on the Harbour Hopper Tour on Saturday evening. We got a chance to see Peggy's Cove before and after the show. There were rocks to climb, quaint coves and a tidal bore to see. Now there's a ton of photos to sort through but excellent memories of the spectacular scenery.

Beading on the go

V08-3a - Pearl Crystal Drop 'V' - Interlock Band

My best beading time is when I’m traveling to bead shows or for vacation. I can bead on a Chinet® plate on my knee in planes and trains, but find the lap tray works best for automobiles. Best of all, the tray doubles up as a handy navigational tool for my maps, brochures and wallet for tolls, as well as the beadwork kit.

I’ve also found I can photograph my work as we’re driving. Somehow the speed of the camera is in sync with my husband's driving. This discovery is a time saver because there is no creative down time. Just tested out the iPhone for this 'gerdan' and voila, here are the results in motion.

So, take your beading wherever you go. You never know when the opportunity to bead presents itself...

Happy beading!

Netted 'V' in progress taken by an iPhone on I-94 en route to Chicago