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Friday, 18 December 2020_Surrounded by cotton wool, wires and colorful paints, Ukrainian artist Maryna Gerashchenko is at the peak of festive season handcrafting Christmas tree figurines in her home-based studio.
Inspired by memories of a Christmas tree at her grandmother's house, Gerashchenko, 56, revives an old tradition of creating Christmas decorations with simple materials.
The pieces of cotton wool soaked in a wheat paste and wrapped around copper wire make the body of the figurine. A tiny clay face is shaped with a help of mold and in the last step, the artist brings the facial features to life with gentle brushstrokes of paint.
In the past, the craftsmen used stickers with face images on them instead of painting faces.
Cotton wool Christmas decorations gained popularity back in the times of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union when a lot of people could not afford to buy expensive glass Christmas decorations and turned to homemade craftsmanship.
Gerashchenko says each figurine represents a certain character done in minute detail - whether it is a little girl holding a tiny cake box in her hand or a boy carrying colorful string lights.
She uses vintage Christmas postcards featuring children or animals during the winter season for inspiration.
Each figurine gets a name which is written on packaging together with a date and place of birth and her works have been bought by the private collectors from Russia, Moldova and Baltic countries.
Source: Reuters
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