Poppy memories

Original watercolor portrait of a little Ukrainian girl in poppy flowers, mixed technique.

When a full-scale war against Ukraine started, I had a hard time with painting. Nothing felt ok. There was no inspiration nor interest in anything. My heart was breaking and it was very difficult to find the way out. A few months into the invasion I started to feel like I need an outlet, something warm and kind and peaceful. This is how my collection of Ukrainian portraits was born.

Every girl and woman here is a symbol of hope & kindness wrapped in the best Ukrainian traditions. They also represent my desire for peace, warmth, and positivity. I create a collection of traditional Ukrainian beauty and share my love for the country this way.

This is a portrait of a Ukrainian girl surrounded by poppy flowers. For a long time, this flower was a symbol of memory of the fallen soldiers during the Second World War. But even before that, tradition told us a poppy flower was an amulet against evil spirits. Ukrainians used to grow poppies all around their houses to keep bad spirits out because the spirit could not pass through until it finished counting all the seeds. It pains me to know that this flower will once again become a symbol of loss during a new and recent war.