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The art of "Petrykivka" or “Petrikovka” is an 18th century stylized form of painting floral and plant motives. “Petrykivka Style of Painting” is a remarkable artistic phenomenon of Ukrainian culture, and a characteristic feature of Ukrainian decorative folk art.

From its very beginning in 1772, the first habitants of the Ukrainian village Petrykivka situated in the Dnepropetrovsk oblast region started this unique and enduring Ukrainian folk art that has become well know around the world today.

For a considerable period of time, Petrykivka paintings decorated only the outside walls of houses before they began to be used on other materials — paper, wood panels or canvas. Mineral pigments were used for making paints. Instead of brushes they used short stocks of reed, twigs or even their fingers to apply the paint onto the primed thin layers of clay on the walls. Egg-based paints were used later to do paintings on paper.

Three colors are predominant — red, yellow (or yellow-green), and dark blue. The craftsmen of the village seeing the popularity and demand for this type of art started to produce household tools, chests, boxes, textiles, and paper ware products using the exquisite flowery motifs that reflected the richness of Ukrainian nature.

The tradition of this art has been passed down from one generation to the next becoming more refined and sophisticated by using brushes made of cat hair.

Our featured Petrykivka artist, Lubov Artyomenko, is well known for her very special artistic signature, the Firebird. She has combine the 18th century stylized form of painting floral and plant motives with that of the traditional Firebird which holds a sacred place in Ukrainian and Russian folklore, as a creature shrouded in mystery in many legendary fairy tales where the hero is ordered to capture it. Lubov has captured the essence of Petrykivka and the legendary Firebird as a sense of inspiration, hope, wealth, and happiness.