Painting

Painting on wood, bass and birch bark was developed in Vologda land as well as engraving. Even in old times the painted articles were sold not only inside but outside the region.

Decorative painting on domestic utensils that took an important place in the decorative art of the North is of special interest. To decorate their homes peasants painted the walls of their houses, partitions, doors, stoves, wooden tableware and different utensils such as brass baskets, cruet-stands, shaft bow, battledore etc.

The most favourite object for decoration among the peasants, living in the area of the Dvina and Sukhona Rivers, was a spinning wheel. The most frequent were the topics reflecting the dreams of a peasant about a happy and prosperous life: wedding trips, outdoor festivities, tea ceremonies, village gatherings, folk dances, hunting scenes and etc. A vegetable ornament reflecting the love of the painter to the northern nature was more frequently found on the spinning wheels of the Dvina peasants. The Dvina and the Sukhona spinning wheels are distinctive for the beauty of their decoration. In their paintings red and black, green and blue colors are well combined on the white or yellow backgrounds.

A graphic type of folk painting with an accurate outline of images and further inside painting was especially developed in the North.

The style of Permogorskaya painting was developed under the influence of the neighboring handicrafts – enamel, blackening on silver, stamping and engraving on birch bark. This layer of Russian ancient culture was amplified with Siren birds, unicorns and lions from the engravings and brass pictures, and in the 19th century – with the scenes and images from the real life that more and more attracted the folk masters. That’s why in Permogorskaya painting among fluffy vegetable ornaments one can see a swimming fish, a bustling hen or a proudly stepping cock, scenes of sledging, festivities and tea ceremonies.

A steady picture with elastic lines of black outline and inside 4-color painting – white, yellow, green and reddish-brown – attaches distinctive features to the Permogorskaya painting.