Art Kaleidoscope

Between art and craft

Elena Safronova Jazzbijoux wirework art

Elena Safronova Jazzbijoux wirework art

Lilu brooch pendant, from Doll game collection. Copper, bronze, filigree, carnelian, apatite, quartz. 7.5 cm. Elena Safronova Jazzbijoux wirework art

Elena Safronova Jazzbijoux wirework art
Moscow based jewelry designer Elena Safronova grew up in a jeweler’s family and enjoyed creativity since childhood. Most of all she liked drawing and designing costumes and jewelry for her dolls. The girl’s father instilled in her a love for jewelry and taught her the techniques of working with metal. Also, he taught the girl to understand stones, metals, and to see beautiful lines and shapes. Elena’s parents introduced her to various types of arts and crafts visiting exhibitions and museums. Thus, the question of choosing a future profession for Elena was obvious.
Enrolling in the Academic School of Design, Elena studied interior design and decor. It was a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with the classical principles of composition and color.
A multimedia artist, Elena has been working in wirewrap technique for the last 10 years. “This technique makes it possible to embody almost any idea in metal. In particular, to create volumetric forms and complex compositions. Besides, weaving goes well with both classic jewelry techniques and modern technologies”.

Creating brooches, pendants, rings and necklaces, Elena works with silver, copper, brass, and nickel silver. Meanwhile, a special love and inspiration of the designer is her collection of stones.
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Faberge jeweler Mikhail Perkhin

Faberge jeweler Mikhail Perkhin

Clover egg – the last work made by the brilliant jeweler in 1903. Faberge jeweler Mikhail Perkhin (1860-1903)

Faberge jeweler Mikhail Perkhin

The future jeweler of the Faberge firm, Mikhail Evlampievich Perkhin was born in 1860 into a peasant family living in the Olonets province. In 1878-1879, after the death of his father, he left for St. Petersburg, where he entered the apprenticeship of the jeweler Vladimir Finnikov, one of the leading masters of the time. In 1884, Perkhin married 16-year-old Tatyana Vladimirovna Finnikova, the daughter of his teacher. Having received the title of master in 1886, Perkhin, accordingly, received the right to a personal brand “М. П.” (Mikhail Perkhin).

Two years later, Carl Faberge invited Perkhin to work in his jewelry firm. In addition, Faberge helped Perkhin open his own jewelry workshop in 1888. It was in this workshop that Perkhin worked for the next 15 years, being the chief master jeweler of the Faberge house.
The Faberge firm provided Perkhin’s workshop with orders, sketches, precious metals and stones, and sold finished jewelry.
Noteworthy that, Henrik Wigström, who later became one of the leading jewelers of Carl Faberge’s firm, began his career as an assistant to Mikhail Perkhin.
According to documents, by the end of the 1890s, more than 50 people worked in Perkhin’s workshop.
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Winter joys in Yulia Luchkina paintings

Winter joys in Yulia Luchkina paintings

A conversation with a magpie. Winter joys in Yulia Luchkina paintings

Winter joys in Yulia Luchkina paintings
Born in 1980, Yulia Luchkina grew up in a family of professional artists. It would seem that the question of choosing a profession was a foregone conclusion. However, Julia tried to find her way in completely different areas, entering institutes and dropping out of them. According to the artist, she tried to become a dentist, lawyer, translator, and manager.
Finally, she graduated from the Academy of Marketing and Social-Information Technologies and the Fine Art Department of the Kuban State University.
Noteworthy, she never stopped drawing, just for fun. As Julia admits, she always did only what was interesting to her. However, creativity won over everything else, because it is the strongest positive emotion. She seems to have found her place, loves what she does, and this brings her success.
Today, Julia is a Member of the Union of Artists of Russia and the International Creative Union of Artists of Russia (IFA).
Many-awarded artist, Luchkina has been a permanent participant of regional and national art exhibitions since 1999. The artworks of multimedia artist Yulia Luchkina decorate many museums and galleries in Russia. In particular, Art Museums in Krasnodar, St. Petersburg, Novorossiysk and Novosibirsk.
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Georgian artist Varla Felix Varlamishvili

Georgian artist Varla Felix Varlamishvili (1903 - 1986)

Haymaking in July. Painting by Georgian artist Varla Felix Varlamishvili (1903 – 1986)

Georgian artist Varla Felix Varlamishvili (1903 – 1986)

Born in Kutaisi (Imereti) in the family of a financier, Felix Varlamishvili graduated from the Tiflis Art Academy. His teachers were Gigo Gabashvili, Yakob Nikoladze, Oscar Shmerling, Boris Vogel, and Joseph Charlemagne. At the age of 25, Varlamishvili moved to Paris and settled in Montparnasse. Having emigrated to France, Varla forever preserved the Georgian spirit, emphasizing that he painted all his paintings with love for Georgia.
Throughout his creative life, the painter actively exhibited his art in galleries and salons in France, Argentina, Belgium, Japan, the USA and Iran. However, real fame, as often happens, came to the artist after his death, and his paintings are constantly growing in price.
Felix Varlamishvili died in Paris and was buried in a cemetery in the Georgian estate Leville on the outskirts of the French capital.
In January 2019, a personal exhibition of his works, presented mainly from private collections, was held in Tbilisi for almost a month. Also, the museum has 10 paintings that his Danish wife, the artist Zira Binder, donated to the museum according to the artist’s will in 1987.
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Russian master enameller Fyodor Ruckert

Russian master enameller Fyodor Ruckert (1851–1918)

Two archers in red caftans in front of a wooden door, detail of desk set. Silver, gilding, painted enamel, Moscow, circa 1900. Work by Russian master enameller Fyodor Ruckert (1851–1918)

Russian master enameller Fyodor Ruckert (1851–1918)
At the end of the nineteenth century, Russian jewelers took the art of creating painted enamels to a new level. The works of Fyodor Rückert occupy a special place in the art of enamel. Bright cloisonné enamels, covered with fantastic creatures intertwined with intricate floral ornaments, have become famous thanks to international exhibitions and fairs.
Born in the French province of Alsace-Lorraine in 1840, Fyodor Ruckert came to Russia at the age of 14. In 1886, Ruckert opened his own silverware workshop. Already in 1887, he began collaborating with the Faberge firm. Noteworthy, up to 80% of all products bearing the Faberge brand came out of Ruckert’s workshop.
The most interesting and rare items of the workshop are picturesque enamel miniatures which capture the beauty and charm of Russian antiquity – history, boyar life, and folklore.
Over time, the master developed his own unique style and a special color scheme, which included olive, eggplant, and black colors.

Fedor Ivanovich Ruckert died in 1917, and was buried at the Vvedensky cemetery in Moscow.
Today, a large part of the works of Ruckert workshop decorate the collections of foreign museums.
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Tatyana Pinchuk jewelry art

Tatyana Pinchuk jewelry art

Cut apple pendant. Gold, silver, agate. 2021. Tatyana Pinchuk jewelry art

Tatyana Pinchuk jewelry art
Member of the Union of Artists of Russia, Tatyana Pinchuk (Kiselnikova) takes a worthy place in the list of both Yekaterinburg and Russian jewelers. Noteworthy, she became imbued with the art of jewelry since childhood, observing the work of her father. Sergei Pinchuk is the recognized Ural jeweler goldsmith.
After graduating from the School of Art and Technology and the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Art, she declared herself as a creatively thinking artist. A professional jeweler, she started her career in well-known companies in Yekaterinburg. In particular, Gold-Platinum Company, Rifesta, and Jewelers of the Urals.
Giving preference to the constructive direction, a characteristic feature of her jewelry is the nakedness of the frame base. A talented artist, Tatyana has repeatedly received prizes at specialized exhibitions and competitions of various levels, including regional, all-Russian and international ones. Artisan exclusively handcrafted jewelry by Pinchuk is in high demand among connoisseurs of fine jewelry.
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Unikale Collectible Christmas balls

Unikale Collectible Christmas balls

Sirin collectible ball. Foam base, cotton with cashmere, silk, genuine leather, colored glass, toho beads, sequins, polymer clay, cold porcelain. 12 cm. Unikale Collectible Christmas balls

Unikale Collectible Christmas balls

Moscow based art studio “Unikale” (literally “unique”) creates decorative Christmas toys using Kinusaiga technique. For each ball they use applique from fabrics of different types and textures, as well as metallized genuine leather. Also, the craftsmen use cold porcelain painted with acrylics, as well as glass details made in lampwork technology. Hand embroidered with threads, cord, beads and sequins, each ball is a unique piece of art. Besides, each ball is packed in a wooden carved casket specially designed for it.
Noteworthy, the Unikale creative workshop brought together professional artists working in various fields, from architecture and monumental painting to stylistics and visage. The brand offers a thousand unique little things that are ready to brighten any home interior.
Unique artists receive hundreds of rave reviews for their art. “Textile balls are a real work of art! A huge painstaking and accurate work, and each decoration is thought out to the smallest detail – even the” scales “on the fish shimmer! Works worthy of serious collections!”
Undoubtedly, any item created by Unikale can be a perfect gift for those who appreciate handicraft and beauty.

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