In the footsteps of a small lynx

Anna Shabalova • Rivne • Ukraine

2020 • Oil paints, on canvas

60 x 50 cm

After painting the first painting from the series "Disappearing Treasures" ("Shadow of the White Rhino"), I felt the need to tell the world about my country, about Ukraine, and about those treasures of my land that are priceless but, unfortunately, are also subject to the terrible consumer impact of people , which will invariably lead to their loss, if we do not reconsider the attitude towards native nature. One of the significant symbols of our country is the Carpathian Mountains and their nature. These mountains, their rivers, lakes and forests are not just a beautiful area, but also a unique ecosystem, fundamentally important for our country as a whole, changes in which will bring changes in details. Look at this baby red Carpathian lynx! Do you know why he moves so not confidently, with fear, approaching us? And all because he cannot understand why we, people, Ukrainians, decided to destroy his home, cutting down trees and destroying the beauty of the Carpathian forests, which are permeated with legends and tales of our people. In the branches of which songs of ancestors sound, telling about the greatness of the Ukrainian land. He does not understand why we have lost the value of the most important - our, still great, heritage, but which is inexorably dwindling. After all, each of us remembers how in childhood, with bare feet, we ran on the same green and fragrant grass and admired the surrounding beauty. Have we forgotten all this, devalued it, and without even thinking about the future are ready to destroy here and now ?! What will we leave to our children? Living and fragrant earth or just its image?

Mountain

Lidija Šimić • RIJEKA • Croatia

2019 • Acrylic painting on canvas

50 x 70 cm