Tag Archives: #folkart

Maria Prymachenko (1908 – 1997)

We’ve been remiss and haven’t posted any folk art for quite some time.  We hope to make it up to you by posting these amazing folk art paintings of Maria Prymachenko.  The Ukrainian artist has lived her life in the village of Bolotnya in the Kiev region.  She has never had formal art training but had a natural talent with an overwhelming desire to create beauty.  She is inspired by the fertile plains of the Ukrainian steppe and by Ukrainian folk poetry. On Wikipedia she tells of how her art began:  

“Once, as a young girl, I was tending a gaggle of geese. When I got with them to a sandy beach, on the bank of the river, after crossing a field dotted with wild flowers, I began to draw real and imaginary flowers with a stick on the sand… Later, I decided to paint the walls of my house using natural pigments. After that I’ve never stopped drawing and painting.”

Images:  Courtesy of a variety of sources.

Kasia Jacquot

Polish born Kasia Jacquot is a Sydney-based textile artist and surface pattern designer. She is known for her embroidery work often mixing embroidery and silk screen printing in her designs. The artist is greatly influenced by traditional Polish and Eastern European folk arts and folk costumes. She gives us an insight into her work on an interview with Dragonfly Toys:

“My designs nearly always begin with some kind of flower. A center and several petals coming off in different directions. I am always pulled towards symmetry so whatever I draw on the left will be repeated on the right. Constant repetition of leaves, flowers, stems, swirly lines and circles. This kind of drawing is very meditative for me and what I find as I draw is that my eye moves between the detail and the overall design and I am always pulled to the place on the page where balance is required. So I guess for me it is about achieving visual balance through the use of floral patterns. I am also greatly inspired by construction, I studied architecture and briefly worked as a draftsperson. The aspect of order and symmetry, and objects belonging in certain places is part of my process.”

“In Poland paper cutting is everywhere. We used to do it as kids and it featured heavily in common folk art, such as a wall decoration in someone’s home. During religious festivals paper cutting was also used to decorate walls of homes or to make decorations for Christmas trees. It’s been part of my life since I can remember and I really enjoy the quietness of the process and also the joyful surprise I get when I open the folded up and cut up paper to reveal a beautiful design full of (of course) symmetry!”

You can view more of her work on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images: Courtesy of Kasia Jacquot.

Yuya Takamizawa

Thinking about trying our hands at paper cutting. These designs are the works of Japanese cutting artist, illustrator and designer Yuya Takamizawa. His work is influenced by folk art from around the world and Scandinavian design. He creates his work at Atelier Folk where he sells paper cutouts, tenugui (cloth towel), and postcards while his wife sells yeast bread and jam. You can view his work on his website and Instagram. You can also view his wife’s culinary expertise on Atelier Sparrow and on Instagram.

Images: Courtesy of Yuya Takamizawa.

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