We all came from the people – Style
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Gzhel ceramics, Zhostovo painting, Palekh miniatures, Veliky Ustyug patterns, Krestetsk stitching, Bogorodsk carving – the Russian land is rich in folk crafts. Many of them have long been forgotten or turned into souvenir kitsch. “Kommersant Style” talks about modern entrepreneurs and designers who are trying to revive decorative crafts, rethink their artistic value and even give them a new life.
Mikhail Milutin
In search of new color solutions, designer from St. Petersburg Mikhail Milyutin used light-polymer materials and polymer ceramics in jewelry. They do not have the transparency and play of light characteristic of classic hot enamel, but at the same time they produce much stronger and more durable products, which are also bright and multi-colored. The first experience of working with polymer ceramics was the Gzhel jewelry – a ring and earrings in a rich blue and white color scheme with amethyst. “The idea of conveying folk painting using the technique of polymer ceramics came to me as soon as I learned about this new material. I just chose two syringes – white and blue. Gzhel patterns fit quite well into the shape of the ring and earrings and at the same time retained their recognition,” says Mikhail. Ceramics are applied to the prepared gold surface, each color is baked separately in an oven at a temperature of 120 degrees under pressure of several atmospheres, then the stage of manual grinding and polishing begins until the surface is absolutely even and smooth.
Mousson Atelier
The jewelry brand offers a special collection A la Russe, in which it brings together items with Russian motifs. Here are Pavlovo Posad shawls, Gzhel, and a samovar with mittens. The traditional palette is conveyed using the cloisonne enamel technique. The pattern is laid out in thin partitions, and then the cells are filled with enamel of different colors. Colored stones add even more color to the product: rubies, sapphires, topazes. “The enamel artist mixes all the colors by hand by eye – it is important for us that the enamel matches the color of the stone. But the difficulty is that the final shade becomes clear only at the very end. Sometimes you have to redo everything,” explains Maria Krasnova, co-owner of the Mousson Atelier brand. The company also uses new high-tech pigments: firstly, they are guaranteed not to contain harmful impurities such as lead and cadmium, secondly, they significantly expand the color palette, and thirdly, they provide more opportunities for repair and restoration of products. It is also important that all the little things with a “Russian soul” look not flat like glass, but voluminous: a brooch in the shape of a pot-bellied samovar with ruby rims, “Khokhloma” mitten earrings with citrines, pendants in the shape of Easter eggs.
Palekh Watch
“I thought for a long time about how to make Palekh miniatures relevant,” says entrepreneur Anna Nesterova. Thanks to her idea to use the ancient technology of lacquer painting on wristwatch dials, the Palekh miniature turned into a useful utilitarian item. But what is more important is that historical folk craft is gradually gaining new opportunities. For more than three years, the Palekh Watch company has been creating unique watches with original painting using the technique of fine writing, in which the smallest details are drawn. The squirrel brushes that the masters use have only one hair in thickness at the end. Paints are prepared according to a traditional recipe: powder pigments are combined with the yolk of a raw egg and a water-acetic emulsion. Gold leaf is applied with a brush, and then rubbed until shiny with a wolf’s fang. “Lacquered miniature is an almost disappearing craft. Our masters can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and, unfortunately, there are no young artists among them,” Nesterova laments. Collaborations help save people who own unique technology: Palekh Watch has already collaborated with young artists from VS Gallery in a project called “Neuro Palekh”.
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