The Fight Between Carnival and Lent. Pieter Bruegel the elder, Oil on wood. 1559. Vienna, Austria. Museum of Fine Arts

Sad Fight Between Carnival and Lent by Bruegel. The custom to hold carnival procession and presentation on Shrove Tuesday has lived up to our days. In medieval Europe, it was one of the most joyful and favorite holidays. In fact, after it began forty days of Lent, during which, according to Christian tradition, it is impossible to arrange any amusements. Sad holiday depicted in the painting by Bruegel. Fires of the Inquisition and the Spanish rule in the Netherlands did not allow reckless fun.
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Waving lights in the dark. Wes Whaley Light painting

Wes Whaley Light painting
American self-taught photographer and artist Whaley is the author of these beautiful art installations. According to him, he uses the fluorescent tubes and other tools to create his light paintings – long exposure, and a paint roller.
Whaley – a sales rep for an electrical supply company in Alabama, US – devised the homemade kit himself. He admits that he has been light painting for 1.5 years. “I love light painting the most because it’s all in your imagination, and also if you were to ask anyone to draw or paint a picture it would take days or weeks. I can set up and shoot a photo in about 10 minutes that is sweet!”
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Mother of God. Pure Soul of Russian lubok

Pure Soul of Russian lubok
Often found in the spiritual literature of XVII-XVIII centuries, the plot of “Pure Soul” goes back to the “Parable of the soul of the righteous”. In the parable of the Immaculate Virgin (on this subject even painted icons) – a symbol of purity and righteousness. “Decorated” with all the virtues,” she stands above the sun and the moon under Her feet.” Dragon, sun, moon, stars, eagle wings behind the back – everything sends the viewer right to Revelation (“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars … And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place on the face of the serpent, and where she is nourished for a time, times and half a time “(Rev., XII).
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The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Katsushika Hokusai code

Katsushika Hokusai code naturally meets the main principle of the Far Eastern philosophy: all things are born from the interaction of two opposing forces of cosmic order yin and yang. Yang – masculine, active, bright start; Yin – feminine, passive, dark. The Great Wave off Kanagawa depicts the moment of complete triumph of the feminine, a prisoner in a giant wave, ready to absorb the boat of fishermen. But in the view of the Japanese, none of the forces can fully take precedence over the other, and at exact moment when the victory of one of them seems to be imminent, the pendulum begins to move in the opposite direction. So that efforts of the rowers are not in vain. Victory as a pledge of defeat.
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Aquilegia. Beautiful Straw art by Irina Porosova

Straw art by Irina Porosova
For many of us, straw seems quite unnecessary material and even rubbish. Meanwhile, people anciently used this ‘garbage’ for household purposes. In particular, with straw they covered the roof, added to the clay and built houses. Also, fed cattle in winter, filled pillows and mattresses. And, most importantly, created stunningly interesting things, and even pieces of art. For example, the same as Russian artist of applied art Irina Porosova, working in her art shop called Fairy-tale. Self-taught artist, she creates fabulous paintings of usual straw. According to her, straw has become her real long-time passion. Parosova lives in the city of Syzran of Samara region.
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Jaguar. Painting by Italian artist Floriano Buccigrossi

Italian artist Floriano Buccigrossi
Born in Palo del Colle on 14 December 1970, Buccigrossi is a self-taught naturalist painter. From an early age he was a true nature lover. He was especially fascinated by animals. When he was 8, his parents gave him “book of animals and plants in their natural environment”. It was his first book. He recalls that he loved watching nature documentaries, in particular “the world of Quark”, and David Attenborough’s “the living planet”. When he had a chance he tried not to miss any TV documentary about nature, plants and animals and collected photographs from any magazine or newspaper that he could get.
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Inspired by French impressionists Felted brooch. Miniature wool painting by Svetlana Dmitrieva, Saratov

Miniature wool painting by Svetlana Dmitrieva
According to Russian artist Svetlana Dmitrieva, French impressionists inspire all her creativity. In particular, the artists of that era chose to portray reading ladies. Why reading? Of course, there was another option – a sitting or strolling lady, meanwhile, fanning herself. In addition, the same ladies of past eras did something else. For example, played music, drew, sang, played with cats or dogs … But still, in the paintings of artists they are mainly fanning themselves and reading.
In fact, the reading girl is the personification of peace, prudence and intellect. Besides, it is convenient to paint static figure. In addition to these classical canons of painting of a certain period, a reading girl was in fashion. And finally, a clever girl has always attracted a man.
Russian artist Svetlana Dmitrieva lives in the old city of Saratov. Until recently she thought that all that she wants to do in life – to paint. And she painted. Oil, tempera, acrylic … Quite accidentally Svetlana Dmitrieva has discovered felt, and, according to her, ‘fell in love’. ndeed, Wool replaced everything – drawing, painting, and instead appeared wool paintings, miniatures, and brooches.
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