Sixteen-year-old Maksym Zhyvko, a native of Ternopil, has an unusual hobby: embroidery. He began mastering needlework ten years ago while he was still in kindergarten, inspired by his mother’s example. Halyna Leonivna would come home from work, open the curtains, and sit by the window to better see her needlework. An atmosphere of calm and inspiration would fill the apartment for many hours. Like all children, little Maksymko wanted to try his hand at what his mother was doing, but nothing would come of it. Then he would sit on a chair facing his mother and repeat all her movements as if looking in a mirror. Ever since then the boy has been doing his needlework with his left hand. Yet his skill would be the envy of any experienced right-handed embroiderer.
Maksym has created over thirty works. His embroidered “paintings” can be classed into landscapes, paintings inspired by flora and fauna, and still lifes, as well as numerous icons.
Maksym Zhyvko has not sold any of his works, even though his family has been badly off without a father. He presents his embroideries to his friends and displays them in exhibitions in his native Ternopil and other areas. On Independence Day this year Maksym’s works were displayed at exhibitions of works by Ukrainian artists and artisans on Khreshchatyk and Spivoche Pole in Kyiv.
The numerous compliments that he received from Kyivans, contained in a homemade book of memories, are a source of happy memories. Maksym’s prizes include a diploma awarded by the Ternopil Oblast Center of Social Services for Youth for his participation in the Independence Day exhibition of artworks and a diploma marking his participation in the Second Festival of Family Artwork “Constellation of Talents” in the nomination Family Relic, which was recently held on the initiative of the Ternopil Center of Children’s Art.
Maksym largely credits the teachers at the Children’s Art Center for awakening his creative talent. He attended painting classes in the junior grades, and his teachers helped the boy to discern the beauty and mystery of the surrounding world, which are hidden from many but visible to the artistic genius. They taught him the techniques of composing his paintings and selecting colors.
“Take a look at this work,” Halyna Leonivna says, showing me an embroidered scene of a family of deer. “We both did the mother deer with her two children in a beautiful forest setting, and this work gathered dust for one year. It was finished, but the scene seemed unfinished. As we were heading home one day, a local kiosk saleswoman called out to us to stop and see some new drawings. We did and Maksym immediately selected a beautiful male deer amid the forest verdure. At this moment my son realized that if we added this deer, the head of the family, to our scene, the painting would be complete.”
The art of embroidery is full of such unexpected creativity. Maksym no doubt inherited his talent. After all, embroidery runs in the family. Halyna showed me a family embroidery dating from the 1930s, a hem- stitched blanket featuring a complex variety of intertwined colors.
From her closet Halyna Leonivna retrieved numerous embroidered towels, table cloths, and handkerchiefs, the amazing creations of her hands. Among her needlework are many runners used in church rites. She does needlework for her sons, Yurko, who is the eldest and the younger Maksym, praying for a happy life for her children. Many of her runners are used in churches and monasteries in Ternopil and throughout the oblast, and even in other Ukrainian cities and abroad. Halyna Leonivna donates them for the glory of God.
This is one extraordinary family of our pragmatic times. These are hard-working, creative, and talented people, who need attention and assistance. Yet they do not need charity, but seek involvement in exhibitions and self-actualization in large-scale artistic projects. Maksym is a senior at Ternopil Secondary School No. 5. In several months he will have to decide where to pursue his studies. He would like to dedicate his life to decorative and applied arts. But is this realistic, considering that the family is chronically short of money?
