Praying for Peace

It may be the map of Ukraine, but this is not about politics. This is simply about hope. Hope for the better world.

I love bright colors, they're joy, they're happiness, they're peace, and dropping these colors on a pretty monotone map brings me all these emotions. And my hope is to paint this world beautiful. 

Sometimes when I paint something where I feel the pain, I imagine that with every drop of color, with every line, I'm putting it back together, gluing it back together with my touch, and I'm praying that somehow the energy will reach the subject and heal it.

Russia and Ukraine are the two sister-countries where I grew up: Russia is where I was born and spent most of my childhood, and Ukraine is where I spent almost every summer with my grandma. I feel the pain from both sides. I'm far from understanding this war fully to speak on the political aspect of it, but seeing the innocent being hurt, hearing about the violence, makes me wonder "is it real patriotism that drives people to do this?" This is a rhetorical questions, and my hope remains the same: I hope that we can all live in peace and love.