Linden fell into the hands of the master
An exhibition of works by Nikolai Krivonos can be seen in the Khotimsky House of Crafts
In two shifts: work as a physical education teacher at school No. 2 in Khotimsk and a volleyball circle. And Nikolai Krivonos spends all his free time in the workshop. Actually, this is a simple balcony on the first floor of a five-story building. The wood carver has all the tools there: chisels, knives, brushes. The work drags on until late at night. Shavings and sawdust are carried around the apartment, but the family no longer pays attention. But there is something to show guests: real works of art - a carved arch in the corridor, a coffee table and a shelf in the kitchen, carved icons, vases, eco-ware, fancy figures - original accents in the interior. This is not consumer goods for you, you want to hold such things in your hands, look at them for a long time and marvel at how an ordinary piece of wood became pliable in the hands of a master.
Nikolai Ivanovich recognized the creative streak in himself as a child:
— Behind a talented student there are always teachers with a capital letter. I am grateful to the drawing teacher Nikolai Savchenko and the teacher of the wood carving circle Mikhail Pugachev. And in our large family, an uncle was a master. At first, I mastered the skill by playing war games: I cut out machine guns from the boards for myself and my comrades. Somehow, on the way to a drawing competition, I turned to football competitions - and so the sport took over in career guidance. I graduated from the Pedagogical Institute, I work as a physical education teacher. In the regional center of creativity for children and youth, he used to lead a wood carving circle: the guys liked making gliders, military equipment, and small bows more. But there must be talent for this, a great desire to learn the secrets of mastery, you need to be assiduous. Modern children are not accustomed to making efforts to create something, consumer society teaches a person to live on everything ready. And the new generation also has a tendency to monetize everything: they have just made a frame for work, and they already write a price tag on it.
Today Nikolay Krivonos works in the regional House of Crafts. His personal exhibition-sale was located there, the works of the Hochist carver can be seen at fairs, such as "Alexandria Gathers Friends". And this year, the district center will become the capital of the regional "Dazhynak", so you can already start carving souvenirs for the guests of the holiday - the workers of the village, Nikolai Ivanovich is making plans:
- Products popular with buyers at fairs - wooden utensils, figurines. People like such souvenirs because they keep the warmth of the master's hands. The tree has a special energy. Belarusians have always been surrounded by forests, and our ancestors sought to create beauty around them. The most ordinary materials - straw, clay, wood - turned into real works of art in their hands.
The master keeps the "gold reserve" in the basement. These are snags, boards, logs. It happens that fellow countrymen provide material for creativity.
- A friend calls: “Kolya, we cut down an emergency linden. They immediately thought of you." I say that I have nothing to bring, so with home delivery. And linden is really the best wood for carving - a rather soft and light material. It is almost not subject to cracking and shrinkage, it is well cut and generally easy to process. But the problem is that landscaping in cities, tree pruning is done in the spring, when there is the most sap flow in the same linden. And then you dry, dry, so it is better to harvest the material in the fall. I am very grateful to our rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Father Pavel. He handed me linden logs of perfect condition after they put things in order on their territory. I want to donate an icon to the church. In my house there is an icon of St. George the Victorious, my favorite work.
How do new creative ideas come about? Sometimes you want to test yourself. Once Nikolai saw in a magazine an image of a girl with tigers - he carved a panel in a tree for 15 years: inspiration from an artist is a capricious thing. At one time, Nikolai Krivonos began to create a photo gallery of all the works - as a keepsake. After all, for the most part they go to gifts, go to different cities and countries. But the master quickly cooled down to the idea of archiving his work. After all, the greatest pleasure for an artist is to create and give beauty to people.
TO THE POINT
Chairman of the Mogilev branch of the Belarusian Union of Folk Art Craftsmen Natalia Domennikova:
— More than 500 craftsmen work in our Houses of Crafts. Of these, 21 have the title of "People's Master", 92 are members of the Belarusian Union of Masters of Folk Art. There are 17 Houses of Crafts in the region, in Bykhov there is a center of folk art and crafts. There are a lot of nuggets among our masters. If a new master appears, we get to know him, look at the work, suggest something. We also run training programs. The other day we had an online training seminar on straw appliqué with colleagues from Novosibirsk, and before that, an embroidery seminar. The popularization of folk crafts is promoted by numerous festivals in our region: "Glushansky farm", "Krichevsky horse" and "Alexandria gathers friends". They began to hold the festival “Belarus, dear, musical, folk”, where each region holds a creative exam. And not only masters from the Houses of Crafts come to this festival, but also ordinary skilled people come to share their talent with the audience. If we talk about crafts, then it is generally accepted that the Mogilev region is famous for straw weaving: we have excellent craftswomen in Gorki, and straw spiders in Bykhov. Dribin is famous for its toppers, there is a cooper in Glusk, a blacksmith in Mstislavl, weaving and weaving of belts is developed in different regions. Our regional methodological center of folk art is trying to direct the Houses of Crafts so that they revive and develop their authentic crafts. Recently, we have masters of birch bark, glass painting. Ceramics is actively developing: young craftsmen appeared in Bykhov, pots began to be turned in Chausy and Mstislavl. If we talk about crafts, then it is generally accepted that the Mogilev region is famous for straw weaving: we have excellent craftswomen in Gorki, and straw spiders in Bykhov. Dribin is famous for its toppers, there is a cooper in Glusk, a blacksmith in Mstislavl, weaving and weaving of belts is developed in different regions. Our regional methodological center of folk art is trying to direct the Houses of Crafts so that they revive and develop their authentic crafts. Recently, we have masters of birch bark, glass painting. Ceramics is actively developing: young craftsmen appeared in Bykhov, pots began to be turned in Chausy and Mstislavl. If we talk about crafts, then it is generally accepted that the Mogilev region is famous for straw weaving: we have excellent craftswomen in Gorki, and straw spiders in Bykhov. Dribin is famous for its toppers, there is a cooper in Glusk, a blacksmith in Mstislavl, weaving and weaving of belts is developed in different regions. Our regional methodological center of folk art is trying to direct the Houses of Crafts so that they revive and develop their authentic crafts. Recently, we have masters of birch bark, glass painting. Ceramics is actively developing: young craftsmen appeared in Bykhov, pots began to be turned in Chausy and Mstislavl. weaving and weaving of belts is developed in different regions. Our regional methodological center of folk art is trying to direct the Houses of Crafts so that they revive and develop their authentic crafts. Recently, we have masters of birch bark, glass painting. Ceramics is actively developing: young craftsmen appeared in Bykhov, pots began to be turned in Chausy and Mstislavl. weaving and weaving of belts is developed in different regions. Our regional methodological center of folk art is trying to direct the Houses of Crafts so that they revive and develop their authentic crafts. Recently, we have masters of birch bark, glass painting. Ceramics is actively developing: young craftsmen appeared in Bykhov, pots began to be turned in Chausy and Mstislavl.
Although I am a folk master, I can’t say from where in a person and under the influence of what the thirst to create arises, the genetic memory wakes up. I once went to a factory of art products, which made an indelible impression on me. I am proud that today there are so many young people in our Houses of Crafts, really enthusiastic creative people.
