Throughout life, we are surrounded by various objects and things. These are clothes, dishes, furniture ... They represent our second, man-made nature, reflecting the level of social development that affects spirituality. Therefore, it is of great importance with what toys our children play and what things serve us in everyday life. In olden times, people surrounded themselves with objects that today seem to us like Russian folk art - a towel embroidered with flowers, colorful nesting dolls, woven bright shawls, wooden and clay dishes decorated with ornaments, sewn from doll fabric.
Today, we are surrounded by household items made on the conveyor. We don’t cut a kitchen chopping board as a present for our mother and don’t decorate it with a scorched ornament, don’t embroider towels, don’t knit socks, because all this can be bought ready-made, beautiful and new. But for some reason, our spiritual principle is dull and bleak. We don’t sing songs to children before bedtime and more often we suffer from depression, having forgotten how to create and make for the sake of the joy of our loved ones. But at the same time, we vaguely remember that once Russian oral folk art was the basis for the upbringing of the young generation.
Today we make money. Returning from work, along the way we buy food. We come home and hurry to turn on the TV. Everything seems to be fine, but some kind of emptiness depresses us. We lack spirituality and aesthetics in life, so handicrafts again become very fashionable in all developed countries. The higher the level of human development, the more dear to him our Russian folk art.
Foreigners travel to Russia to get acquainted with the decorative and applied wealth of our people. Ceramics, lace, Khokhloma, Palekh, painted caskets and painted eggs - this is just a small list of wealth, which is Russian folk art - man-made, cheerful, with a colorful character. Nature itself has chosen all the best from these nuggets and has preserved it for centuries, passing us unique traditions.
Even handicrafts made by a not quite skillful hand, drawings on the lubok or birch bark have amazing power and convey a miraculous sense of beauty, because unknown masters performed these objects with love in order to please their relatives and decorate their difficult life in the harsh northern country.
Russian folk art conveys to us images formed by the worldview of people. Even after seeing somewhere the plot for his product, the master adds his vision and soul to it. For example, in the 18th century, nobles began to decorate their palaces with lions, and Nizhny Novgorod woodcarvers looked at the appearance of these wonderful animals and decorated them with huts, carving very good-natured lions on wooden shutters and window sills, reminiscent of the faces of domestic cats.
Is this not a confirmation of the rule that Russian folk art does not copy anything? This is always a separate and unique art, rooted in ancient times. While creating, our Russian people believed in good powers and appeased them. So, embroidering a rushnyk or lower chemise, the woman portrayed birds of paradise among bright colors. According to popular belief, when this bird sings, people for many years live in happiness and do not know grief. Sitting at the embroidery or at the loom, the woman sang sincere songs, attracting goodness and happiness to the house.