Art Kaleidoscope

Head of a Woman in Red by Renoir 3D brooch pin. 1980s. Bonnie Kondor jewelry art inspired by great masters

Bonnie Kondor jewelry art inspired by great masters
Born in 1946, the talented American watercolor artist, teacher and jeweler Bonnie Kondor graduated from Lake Forest College in Illinois and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After graduation she taught art at Roberto Clemente High School in Chicago for over thirty years. Having retired from teaching, she moved to California and became interested in watercolor painting. The main motif of her watercolors was the beauty of flowers.

An important stage in her life was her passion for jewelry design and the creation of unique jewelry, which today has become highly collectible. Having founded her company Bonnie Designs in California in 1982, she began creating and selling handmade jewelry. Her brooches and pendants are unique miniature three-dimensional works of art, inspired by great masters – Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Seurat, Miro, Klimt, Cezanne and others.

Handcrafting jewelry, Bonnie created a three-dimensional collage of paper, covering it with multi-colored acrylic and glass beads. To achieve the long-lasting beauty and durability of the pieces, she used polymer coatings, resin, varnishes, and enamels. Also, each brooch has a vibrant gold-tone border that shimmers with gold in the light. On the back of each brooch or pendant, Bonnie hand-signed the artist’s name, such as “Seurat & Me,” Bonnie Kondor, and sometimes dated them.

Kondor created jewelry for just over a decade, closing her company in the mid-1990s. 75-year-old Bonnie Kondor and her husband, Laszlo Kondor, 81, now live in La Quinta, California.
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Poppy still life. Interior art poster, made on natural cotton canvas. Mila Mironova Still Life Photo Art

Mila Mironova Still Life Photo Art
Based in Ryazan Russian photo artist Mila Mironova (mila-mir) creates unique and beautiful still lifes using interior printing on canvas. According to Mila, instead of paints and brushes that the artist uses, she uses light.
All works in her shop without exception are original. She does everything herself, from creating a still life composition and processing a raw photo, printing the finished work on canvas and selecting a baguette frame.

Undoubtedly, interior printing on canvas has become a very popular type of interior decor. Thanks to the choice of high-quality materials and the talent of the artist, her exclusive printed works are comparable to paintings.

Noteworthy, Mila, who is an engineer-designer by education, has never had anything to do with creativity, having taken her first steps in art after she retired. With her work, the artist inspires others “to dream, dare, learn, master something new at any age.”
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Fireflies. Beautiful young women with golden hair in luxurious emerald dresses surrounded by white flowers of the night garden, admiring the glowing fireflies. Canvas, oil 70 cm x 100 cm. Larisa Ilchenko Oil Paintings

Larisa Ilchenko Oil Paintings
Born in Krasnodar, Larisa Ilchenko is a Member of the Union of Artists of Russia and the Eurasian Union of Artists. In 1981, she graduated from the Krasnodar Art School with honors.

Most of her work is oil paintings on canvas, watercolor and tempera. The range of genres is also wide: multi-figure easel compositions, still lifes, landscapes, and portraits. The portraits transfer the character of the people depicted and their unique eyes – full of their thoughts and feelings. The artist reflects not only the appearance, but their soul, which is the most integral feature of her portraits.

Larisa has held nine solo exhibitions and is a regular participant and prize-winner of national and international art exhibitions. Among them, in particular, Gallery Alex (Spain), Saatchi-gallery (England – London), Art – 3000 (France), etc.

The artist’s works adorn museums, galleries, private collections in Russia, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Greece, the USA and other countries. Her biography is published in the encyclopedia “Who is Who Verlag fur Personenenzyklopadien AG” of the international Swiss publishing house.

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‘Aurora’ embroidery based on the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 2023. Tatyana Eremina 3D embroidery art

Tatyana Eremina 3D embroidery art
St. Petersburg based self-taught artist of applied art Tatyana Eremina (panilivinski) has been doing volumetric embroidery for over 30 years. Noteworthy, her stunning works blur the line between handicrafts and genuine art. A design engineer by education, she has dedicated 12 years of her life to this profession. According to the artist, she “catches herself thinking that this often helps in her creativity”.

Tatyana Eremina is a regular participant in applied art exhibitions, traditionally held in the palaces of St. Petersburg. In addition to participating in national exhibitions, Eremina also took part in foreign exhibitions, the most significant of which was in Italy. The winner of several international competitions, Eremina enjoys teaching embroidery.

As they say, talented people are talented in everything, and everything that her hand touches causes delight and admiration. In addition to embroidery, Tatyana is engaged in other types of handicrafts – jewelry, felting, stained glass, knitting, decoupage, design, dolls and toys, sewing, restoration, applique and spinning.

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Wolf pendant. Oil paints, magnesite. 6 cm. Maria Ratnikova Lacquer Miniature Jewelry

Maria Ratnikova Lacquer Miniature Jewelry

Based in Kostroma, Maria Ratnikova is a versatile artist who creates beauty by working in various fields of applied art. In her gallery, along with collectible dolls, silk flowers and watercolors, a special place is occupied by jewelry painting on natural stones, lacquer miniatures and accessories (felt art).

Other types of her creativity include silk painting (batik), decoration, working with leather and fur, floristry, graphics, sculpture and inlay. According to the artist herself, each material in turn becomes her favorite, and then she makes a collection-series of works.

Since 2017, Maria has been a regular participant in jewelry art exhibitions in her native Kostroma.

Noteworthy, multimedia artist Maria Ratnikova is also an art therapist and a practical psychologist
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Aunt Summer textile interior doll. Height 35 cm. Art textiles, tulle, jute, beads. Russian doll artist Tatiana Belozyorova

Russian doll artist Tatiana Belozyorova
A native of the northern region, Belgorod based self-taught artist Tatiana Belozyorova (BizWoo) creates unique interior toys and fairy-tale creatures that cannot leave anyone indifferent. The talented craftswoman began participating in applied art exhibitions in 2010, receiving public recognition and many awards.

According to Tatiana, she was interested in drawing since childhood and, as an adult, worked for a short time as a decorative artist at a local club. While on maternity leave to care for her child (today she already has five children), she became interested in creating dolls. It takes her from 2 days to several months to create a doll, depending on her inspiration and mood.
Meanwhile, Tatyana has mastered various applied art techniques, such as felting, sewing, embroidery, making paper mache, sculpting, and more. Also, Tatiana is a talented photographer.
Sold through well-known online platforms around the world, her unique fairy-tale creatures are in high demand.
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Gold beetle engraving on a coin using nickel, gold. Engraver Roman Butin

Legendary Engraver Roman Butin
Nothing is impossible for the Russian engraver Roman Butin, thanks to his wild imagination and talent. Admirers of his art call this Golden Beetle a masterpiece, as well as many other works of the master from Yekaterinburg.
Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s near-forgotten fairy tale of the same name, the gold beetle features an intricately carved dollar that hides a secret. The button activates the beetle’s wings, revealing gold. Noteworthy, at an auction in December 2017, this beetle was sold for $9,200. However, this is not the highest price at which he sold his products.
Roman’s “Gold Beetle” and its hidden secrets is a reference to Poe’s short story including cryptography; hidden elements that readers must decipher in order to understand the story.
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