"Tour of Gerdany Regions" started at UM-A, Ohio

These presentations premiered at the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland on Aug 12th. Luckily for me, The Hnatiuk Collection was on exhibit in the Gallery where I was to hold my Gerdany Workshops on Saturday.

 The Hnatiuk Collection Exhibit with a gerdany workshop setup

 Kilims and 'Keptar' vests from The Hnatiuk Collection

I attended the opening of the Hnatiuk Museum in Livonia, MI in the late 1990s. So many artifacts and treasures crammed into a walkout home basement was an unforgettable sight! I was just getting into beadwork and fascinated by a showcase with shelves full of gerdany. These photos start off my Beadwork Photo Album.

'Sorochka', The Hnatiuk Collection

Kudos to UM-A Curator, Aniza Kraus, for the dramatic display of a selection of embroidered 'sorochky, keptari and kilims'. By focusing on the production of the fibers and materials, the exhibit was educational. The UM-A published a book using The Hnatiuk Collection as the basis for scholarly articles on textiles from the XIX & XXth centuries with 400 great photos for reference.

Friday night at the Rypan "Movies", UM-A

My PowerPoint presentation was held in the Museum main room on Friday night. The "Ethnographic Region Tour" was a hit for the North American viewer. It was a great intro to the "Gerdany Regions" of western Ukraine. Here the viewers saw an ethnographic region map introducing multiple slides of gerdany beading from different regions. They could get an appreciation for the various styles of beading, colors and motifs.

Learning different styles of gerdany-making at UM-A

There were two contemporary beadwork Gerdany Workshops on Saturday. 

Maria helps Jennie Bochar learn how to bead

Best treat for me was the collection of beadwork Jennie brought for Show & Tell. Among the gerdany, there were her Baba's pieces brought over when she was 16 years old. I never say such a tiny Lemko 'kryza'!

 100+ year old 'kryza', J. Bochar Collection

'Kryza' details, J. Bochar Collection

Connecting with Facebook Friends

Rypan Designs - "Sedona Kilim", TBS 2000 Bag of Bead Challenge

Rypan Designs now has a page on Facebook. So do I... Thanks to my friend and #1 assistant Jo-Ann, I'm starting to get the hang of connecting with the wide world of Facebook. I never realized how small the world really was until we were just checking out features. There's someone I know, and as I'm clicking on "Add as Friend"... and then there are Mutual Friends.... There is no end... If you're reading this, don't be shy about "Adding me as a friend". Let's keep in touch.

My "Sedona Kilim" is my "face" for Rypan Designs. My "photo" is for my personal page. They're interchangeable because we want to share beadwork ideas and news where ever it's most suitable.

Best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year!

З Новим Роком, бажаю Вам натхнення та творчих ідей,

Марія

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"

Upcoming "White Aster" Photo Album

Maria & Iryna Senyk review fashion sketches, 1990

I'm strolling down memory lane while putting together a Photo Album of Iryna Senyk's “White Aster of Love” Book Project by the UCWLC St. Demetrius Branch, Toronto (1989 - 1992 and beyond).

This will be an on-screen photo show which will retell the story of how the Project mushroomed from simply designing dresses from smuggled fashion sketches of a former political prisoner from Ukraine in 1989 to having her poetry translated and published in a deluxe art book. I was the fashion designer of the “Iryna Senyk” embroidered dresses, did the layout and design of the “White Aster of Love” book, produced a Gala Premiere Book Launch at the Marriott Hotel in 1992 and subsequent travelling "Tribute to Iryna" slide show. I will be presenting the Powerpoint "Album" Monday, Feb. 8th, 8. p.m. at the UCWLC meeting at St. Demetrius Church in Toronto. I hope my tribute to Senyk, whose poetry, fashion sketches and miniature embroideries inspired the bilingual "White Aster" book, will remind the ladies how the League's involvement brought Senyk's poetry and embroidery to the world.

Folks will be amazed by the scope and breadth of this project. All welcome.