In the Ushaсhy district, an artist painted portraits of famous countrymen – Bykov, Borodulin, and Brovka
Mikhail Alexandrovich came to Ushachi region by assignment after graduating from the art department of the Vitebsk Pedagogical Institute (now P. Masherov Vitebsk State University). He started as a school teacher, teaching drawing, technical drawing, and labor. In 1980, when an art workshop opened in Ushachi, he moved there. For several years, he was mainly involved in design work and agitation, and his respite was the hours when he took his favorite watercolors and painted landscapes.
The local region is a treasure trove for a person of artistic nature. It is conducive to creativity. Mikhail Bogdanovich fell in love with Ushachi region at first sight and dedicated almost all his paintings to his second homeland. Most of them are painted from life.
The artist enjoys observing nature and discovering new places. He always carries paper and a pencil with him, making sketches even while fishing, which he considers the best rest. Then, a forest landscape or a still life with a rich catch appears.
Mikhail Bogdanovich learned the subtleties of art from the founder of the Vitebsk watercolor school, Felix Gumen. Later, he himself taught this technique to children, some of whom graduated from art universities. Mikhail Alexandrovich's paintings are chosen as gifts for district guests as a memento of the picturesque Ushachi region. Local residents gladly attend exhibitions to admire their native places along with the artist.
A recent vernissage was held at the House of Crafts, which also houses works by masters of Ushachi region. Mikhail Alexandrovich proudly talks about the revival of folk crafts, the work of clubs for straw weaving, embroidery, weaving, knitting, and wood carving. A separate room is dedicated to the works of the original carver Sergey Rovba.
The master's sister donated a unique collection of canes, openwork wooden ladles, dishes, salt shakers, as well as homemade skis and a violin created by a village craftsman to the House of Crafts.
The exhibition features smoked ceramics by folk master of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Bezrukov, and paintings by Great Patriotic War veteran Demyan Krupenya. They are also dedicated to the beauty of their native region.
Visitors from other regions of Belarus and Russia, who are vacationing at the "Lesnye Ozera" sanatorium, often visit the House of Crafts and always purchase souvenirs. According to Mikhail Alexandrovich, items with the symbols of the country and the Ushachi region are particularly popular.
Administrative work takes up a lot of time that the artist would like to devote to creativity. But Mikhail Bogdanovich believes that the preservation and revival of folk arts is no less important a mission than painting.