My name is Maria Farber; I am a professional Jewelry Designer and mom. In my spare time, I make beaded jewelry, and custom made one of a kind ORIGMI gifts. I think I will use this blog as a gallery of my designs and a place to muse.
Getting back to my MATRYOSHKA MADNESS subject, I decided that it is appropriate to display my glorious set of 10 beauties. My husband bought this set for me during his last visit to Russia. I actually wanted a very simple set, something more primitive and a child-toy like. But I have grown quite attached to this gorgeous set, who wouldn't?! This is my one and only matryashkas that I own and they are quite elaborate as you can see. Since they are not exactly a child toy, they live in a glass curio cabinet with my teapot collection (that is a separate story for the future); otherwise, my little 2.5 year old son will play hockey with all 10 of them. Just as a side note: on our arrival from Wildwood NJ, in the very first 30 minutes at home, my 2.5 year old broke the screen of a brand new completely paid out flat screen LCD 52” TV. May be the glass curio cabinet will follow its fate soon, since it was paid out in full too…
Again getting back to my matryoshka subject. Each doll has a famous ancient Russian fairy tale painted on the front. They were all hand painted by a master painter T. Lukianenko, Company “Looch” in English means "Sun Ray". I placed the smallest one on the head of the largest matryoshka, so you can see the difference between them clearly.
I am afraid this is not all I have to say on the subject. More coming soon…
Matryoshka doll has always been part of my life. I grew up in the former USSR in Minsk (republic of Belarus). My family was quite poor and my brother and I were not spoiled with anything like toys and treats. But I had MATRYOSHKAS! The wooden nesting dolls were a traditional toy/souvenir and I guess not expensive. Matryoshka dolls were always handmade, and therefore always unique. I adored the bright colors and decoration of their traditional clothing, the stylized faces smiling inviting. Oh, and the smell of wood and paint! But best of all, inside each doll was another smaller one. One could play endlessly!
I just LOVED Matryoshkas. I had at least a dozen of them all mismatched with chipped paint, some cracked. But the smell of wood and paint on them never went away. My aunt who worked in a day care center brought me two old wooden toy armoires that the daycare center was throwing out. The armoires had two sliding doors each and were painted simply light green and blue. The doors had a small round hole for a little finger to fit and to slide the doors left or right. I was delighted! My Matryoshka army lived in these two armoires. I played with them for hours. There also was a toy store in Minsk called "MATRYOSHKA". It was quite far from where we lived, but my Mom would take me there when we were in the neighborhood and buy a new wooden doll for me. The smaller the better, so it would fit into my small fist. And on the way home, in the public bus, I would hold it very tight, so I would not lose it. And the smell, the aroma of a new Matryoshka! I think these were my happiest hours.
I am still mad about Matryoshkas. And I would like to share some very nice different versions, done by various artists and crafters. I hope you like them too.
