Workshop with Maryna Salagub: “Opishnia Ceramics in Watercolour”

Maryna Salagub is a Ukrainian-Canadian watercolour artist, illustrator, and art educator whose creative practice is inspired by nature, storytelling, and Ukrainian cultural heritage. Transparent watercolour is her medium of choice. Her work is recognized for its vibrant colour, dramatic light, expressive animals, and whimsical sense of movement. Increasingly, her practice explores the visual language of Ukrainian folk art, traditional ornamentation, and nature-based symbolism. Maryna is the current recipient of the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre Archives Residency. This program allows her to foster, promote, and support archival research on Ukrainian culture using the collections housed by the Medwidsky Archives at the Kule Folklore Centre.

Participants will discover Opishnia ceramics, one of Ukraine’s distinctive folk art traditions, through examples from the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives. Inspired by Maryna’s residency research, they will explore traditional animal forms, earthy colours, and decorative motifs. Through step-by-step watercolour guidance, participants will create their own painting, inspired by an archival Opishnia ceramic figure.