Kazan — summer 2012

When I think of Russian folk art, I think of intricate wooden carving along the roofs and windows of peasant huts, of haunting Slavic folk melodies, and of kitchen knives made in political prisons.¹

Everyone else thinks of матрёшки, the brightly colored nesting dolls of Russia. So today our students painted матрёшки and other wooden items. Our instructor has worked with us in previous years, and she is a woman who loves colors. She is also about the most kindly-spoken Russian I have ever met. She made only one plea: avoid brown and black colors. These toys are meant for children, so use bright colors lest you dim their young souls.

Each student chose some bit of wood to decorate. Our instructor gave a very brief talk on the history of matryoshki and discussed the use of color. Here is what our students came up with.

Alex put together a bracelet with a Russian flag on the outside and an American flag on the inside.

Andy came up with a Japanese businessman matryoshka, complete with satchel, nunchuks and a Rising Sun.

Joe came up with a matryoshka in a hoodie. On the back are the initials EIC "editor-in-chief".

Bill came up with a George W Bush matryoshka.

Andrew came up with crying matyroshka labeled "forever alone". Nice gift for a child, Andrew.

Shana's cutting board was heaped with praise for her Russian color choices.

Nick had the most imagination. Beautiful mountains on one side; fire on the permafrost on the other. All this was crowned with the colors of the sky before a storm.

Kim put this one together. This feels *very* Russian to me. I love the neatly done flowers.

Chris came up with a heart with "I loved you once" on it, an homage to Pushkin's poetry.

John's cutting board drew praise for its northern colors of blue and snowy white, although the teacher said he could have added more gold. I like the sparse gold. It reminds me of the rare Russian sun in wintertime.

Amanda's also looked really Russian to me.

Nick's also felt Russian. I loved the golden stars on the blue background.

I think it was John who made this matryoshka with a bowtie, in honor of some kid Kim danced with in Petersburg. (If the kid had made a proper impression, you would think that *Kim* would have reproduced him in art... which makes me think John may be using this item for blackmail of Kim in the future.)

Here's another beautiful traditional approach. Liz's, if I remember right.

I looked at this and though, "God save us, it's a white trash matryoshka." Ken corrected me; it was inspired by the movie "Deliverance". Our instructor immediately identified the banjo. Remind me not to follow Ken into the forest.

And here is the whole batch all together.

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¹ Alright, the knives have nothing to do with Russian folk art. They just came to mind as I was writing, and I wasn't in the mood to self-censor.