Perfect Gifts

for a Perfect Sister

My big sister turns 50 tomorrow. She lives in Moscow, we see each other very seldom, and I miss her...

My sister was born in Siberian city, Krasnoyarsk. When she was about a year old, our parents moved to Ukraine, and somehow she never visited her place of birth again. She wanted to go there this year, but again some family business kept her away from this trip.

My sister loves to travel. She's been in many places in Europe, in Egypt, Japan, America, and a few times in Australia. From her trips, she always brings back a decorative plate with a view of the place she visited. An entire wall in her kitchen is covered with these plates.

So, since she could not go to Krasnoyarsk, I decided to make her a plate with a view of this city. I shifted through quite a few pictures, but neither one touched my heart. There were a few interesting buildings and bridges, but I had no idea whether they were there 50 years ago or not. Then I remembered about the place near the city called Krasnoyarsk Columns. They are not mountains, but rather huge rocks, partially covered with trees. I found a picture of two of them that look like heads of some fantastic giants and used it to make a photo transfer onto white polymer clay. This is the first time I've ever done anything in this technique, so I am rather proud of myself. I used black and white picture and antiqued the finished plate for a weathered look. I hope my sister will love it. I think she can honestly place it with her other travel souvenirs – her birth certificate proves that she' s actually been to this city.


My second gift for her is a set of earrings and a pendant. I remember our mom telling us about some small Siberian flowers, called “zharki”. The root of this word, “zhar”, means “heat” in Russian. She said they were incredibly bright-colored, and the entire tundra looked like it was on fire when they were in bloom. The sculpted flowers for this set is my artistic interpretation of this memory...

Family Heirloom, Preserved

I am ready to share pictures of my recent work, just in time for Valentine's Day. I made this set of earrings and a pendant for my neighbor. She had an old watch, a family heirloom, which did not work anymore. I took it apart and made it into this pendant. I was even able to preserve the back of the old watch (with initials P.P.) by attaching it to the back of the pendant. The pendant is made from brown polymer clay. One side of it has the watch parts and the other is decorated with crackled gold metal leaf. The pendant is covered with clear resin to create a smooth, glass-like surface. The matching earrings are adorned with fresh-water pearls.