Art Kaleidoscope

Galaxy. Material – citrine, rock crystal. Alexander Levental stone cutting art

Alexander Levental stone cutting art

Born in 1959, St. Petersburg based jeweler stone cutter Alexander Solomonovich Levental is the founder of the Creative Union of Rock-cutters of Russia and Knight of the Order of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky (2010).
He grew in the family of a geologist engineer and got a love for a stone from his father and grandfather, a Petrograd jeweler.
Alexander studied at the Restoration and Construction School, specializing in stone carving. After graduation in 1977, he continued private studies in the workshop of Eduard Versudsky and his wife Alevtina Voronova. Then he worked as a foreman of stone carvers at the Monumental sculpture factory. However, wherever and whatever he would not work (a sailor, a fireman, a polisher, a caretaker, a watchman), he was constantly engaged in jewelry and stone carving.
In 1989, Levental organized “Plastic in stone” company, which existed until 1992. After 1992, he ran the stone carving workshop “Artes”, and in 2002 founded his own creative workshop.
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Aviator. Stone Carving Art by Altai master Yury Shumov

Stone Carving Art by Altai master Yury Shumov

Born in 1983 in the town of Berezovka, in 1998 Yury Shumov entered the Lyceum in Biysk, where he studied for four years, to become “Artist-Master of Decorative and Applied Art”. At the end of the lyceum in 2002 he entered the Biysk Pedagogical University the artistic and graphic department. In addition, the same year he got a job as an art teacher at the Major Secondary School in Charyshsky District. But the prospect of teaching and long studying at the university did not inspire him. The paper and routine work interfered with self-realization and development of his own creative potential.
So, in 2003 he moved to Kolyvan, to the stone-cutting plant, and worked there as a polisher of stone products. Six months later, he was engaged in bulk carving on the stone. And all this time he, along with his brothers, built a workshop in Berezovka, bought tools, manufactured machines, collected stones, and precious materials for work. By the autumn of 2008 the workshop was ready. The first success came in 2010, when they won the 1st place in Charyshsky and Solonshensky district among the participants of the exhibition in the nomination “Handicraft production”.
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Light in the house. First meeting with a miracle. 2015. Work by Russian self-taught photographer Elena Shumilova

Photographer Elena Shumilova
The art by Russian self-taught photographer Elena Shumilova is a beautiful world filled with sun, divine light and gold color. Her photos are very vital, great, and a little nostalgic. They are about friendship and loneliness, love and the charm of nature.
An architect by education, Elena is a self-taught photographer. According to the photographer herself, after the birth of her second child, she began spending a lot of time away from Moscow, in a village in the Tver region. And then she had an irresistible desire to shoot and do it professionally. Her beautiful works are real paintings, with a unique coloring, game of light and color. She managed to convey emotional mood, and the most simple, but such important, moments of life.
Meanwhile, Elena spends half a year with her family in Moscow, and half a year in the Andreapol district of the Tver region on Lake Brosno, where she is engaged in farming. She has two sons – five-year-old Yaroslav and two-year-old Ivan. Therefore, the main “heroes” of most photos are Elena’s sons, as well as the “inhabitants” of her farm.
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Colorful Owl, each feather hand stitched. Zara Merrick textile art

Zara Merrick textile art
The hands of a talented artist and jeweler Zara Merrick transform the scraps of cloth into a real piece of art with intricate detail. English craftswoman Merrick often uses old fabrics from her own collection, and constantly replenishes it with vintage and new fabrics from antique French and English fairs. According to Zara herself, it is embroidery itself that makes the product complete.
“I like to feel how a piece of flat work turns into something tangible, filled with various textures and patterns”, she says. Noteworthy, it takes her about a month to completely finish a panel about 70 cm high. But the result is definitely worth it! “Sometimes I myself am amazed at how I manage to create something like that,” Zara admits. Anyway, the love of creativity does not allow her to stop on what she has achieved.
Meanwhile, the main inspiration for the artist – all kinds of birds.
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Wonderful doll by Russian doll master Natalia Lopusova-Tomskaya

Russian doll master Natalia Lopusova-Tomskaya
Her art is a mystery and you need to wait for months to buy her doll. According to sources, she regularly conducts master classes, and her book is partially available on the Internet. She is a sorceress with papier mache with impeccable taste. Her dolls are elegant and recognizable. And in one single image she can create a Tale.
Natalia Lopusova-Tomskaya combines various materials, laces and beads. It gives the impression of a rich, exquisite costume that emphasizes the subtlety of the proportions of the body itself. The gamma of fabrics is usually almost monochrome or based on a combination of similar colors, creating a feeling of overflows, playing shades.
The characters of Lopusova-Tomskaya are fantasy creatures from other worlds, all sorts of elves, circus people, and sometimes – associative images. In their “communication” with the viewer these dolls are very delicate and benevolent, do not rush to “tell” about themselves, but are ready to “listen” to the interlocutor …. Just be extremely careful – you can not but get under the influence of her dolls!
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Isfandiyorxon Qabulxonasi, Xiva. Wall decor. Central Asian ornamental ganch carving art

Central Asian ornamental ganch carving art
Unique and diverse, Ganch carving is one of the most ancient arts of Uzbekistan and Central Asia. It represents a unique school in terms of artistic style and specific technical performance. According to V.V. Stasov, “This is the purest Central Asia itself, which can not be compared with anything else from everything known in the world in terms of drawing and artistic forms.”

Indeed, ganch carving in the hands of a skillful master becomes a work of art. Vegetable and geometric motifs prevailed in the ornamental structure of the art of carving on ganch. Perhaps, to this day, the Central Asian variety of gypsum – ganch would only serve as plaster for the walls and bonding material in the brickwork, if not the Uzbek masters creating ganch art since ancient times. As the Eastern wisdom says – it is not material that makes a thing priceless, but the skillful hands of a master.
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Angel with birds. Camomile ceramic angels by Aram Hunanyan

Camomile ceramic angels by Aram Hunanyan
Armenian ceramic artist Aram Hunanyan has been working with clay for more than 20 years. He participates in numerous exhibitions, and his works are known not only in Armenia, but also in other countries.
The master has started to do his unusual daisy angels (as well as angels with other flowers) in 2011. The image of the angel appeared not at once, gradually, step by step. And now the angels made by Aram can be recognized immediately. These figures are 10 to 40 cm high, they are all distinguished by the disproportion of the head and body, but this gives them a special charm. These angels are a bit naive and thoughtful, kind and loving. Meanwhile, the angels remind me of icons, and the master has pure soul and spirit, and the space around him is harmonious – a beautiful, well-groomed workshop.
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