It is believed that any craft is easier to master when you are young: higher learning ability, more mobile neurons … But is age so important if the soul asks for creativity, and enthusiasm helps to overcome any difficulties? We decided to tell you about the residents of the Urals, who are sure for sure that you can do what you love at any age. Embroidery, landscape design or the release of collections of archival texts – each of our heroes is sincerely in love with his hobby.
Mikhail Zhdanov, 69 years old, compiles collections of the newspaper’s archival materials
Mikhail Gennadievich is the chief editor of the Kommunar newspaper of the Slobodo-Turin region. His specialty is related to agriculture, but since 2010 he has been the head of the district office. In 2015, the newspaper celebrated its 85th anniversary, and Mikhail Gennadievich wanted to give the publication a gift – to compile a collection of newspaper texts. The oldest, which were then kept in the editorial office, were dated 1965. Throughout the winter, Mikhail Gennadievich was looking for materials, distributing them according to headings and chapters: about agriculture, war and labor veterans, poets. The collection “Along the course of time we strive to infinity …”, consisting of more than four hundred pages, was published for the anniversary of “Kommunar” with the support of colleagues from the editorial board. The author himself calls his first experience chaotic: there was not enough integrity. In 2018, for the anniversary of the district, the second volume “I remember these times” was published, dedicated to the life of communists, Komsomol members, pioneers and modern youth. In 2020, Mikhail Gennadievich prepared the third – “Newspaper – an indicator of life”. It includes the early publications of Kommunar, found in the Belinsky Library, from the 1930s to 1965. A new issue is planned – about the soldiers returning from the front.
In compiling the collections, Mikhail Gennadievich considers the result to be the most important:
– You wait for a book, then you look at it and realize that you have invested a part of yourself in its publication. I hope our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will appreciate this work.
Sometimes readers, having read about themselves or their loved ones, call the author and thank him for the work. Mikhail Gennadievich shares:
“In 20-30 years, people will want to remember the past, to search the archives for old records. Collections can help them, it is very motivating. My grandfather worked as a collective farm chairman for many years. As an adult, I tried to get information about him, picked up archives, but in vain. I want my fellow countrymen to be able to find information about their relatives in the future.
Age is not an obstacle for needlework, says Claudia Pugacheva. Photo: Claudia Pugacheva’s archive
Claudia Pugacheva, 81 years old, cross-stitch paintings
Since childhood, Klavdia Pavlovna knew how to embroider, but then she was very far from the creation of paintings. It all started with small handkerchiefs, pillows and napkins as a present for mom. As a schoolgirl, she became interested in needlework together with her classmates, they embroidered patterns on clothes – it was considered fashionable. Then Claudia left her hobby for a while, got an education in the oil and gas industry, got a job. Due to the workload and frequent business trips, there was no time and effort left for embroidery. At 64, Klavdia Pavlovna retired and remembered her former hobby. She never considered age a hindrance to her favorite pastime.
– Pension is freedom, – the needlewoman laughs. – Grandmother fed everyone, watered everyone, took them home. What else to do? Watch TV? I didn’t like it very much. That’s when I thought: why am I sitting? You need to occupy yourself with something.
This is how the idea of embroidering large canvases came about. I went shopping and bought embroidery sets “Chocolate Girl” by Lyotard and “Ladies with an Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci.
– Since then, I have found beautiful and voluminous classical paintings that have some meaning. I see off the guests and embroider with a cross until one or two in the morning, – says Klavdia Pavlovna.
Each job takes 5-6 months. She donates finished works to relatives and friends.
Most of all, the pensioner likes the embroidery process. She carefully works out each line, at the slightest mistake she patiently dissolves part of the canvas and starts it over again. Klavdia Pavlovna recalls: before, when her husband’s friends came to visit them, they always looked for a new creation of the mistress of the house, and when they saw it, they could not understand how such a delicate work could be done: “Is it really embroidered, is it really a cross?” Then the realization came that this was no longer just a hobby, but a serious matter. Now Claudia Pavlovna is failing her eyesight and it becomes more difficult to embroider (“I am like a monkey with glasses!”), But she is not going to give up her favorite pastime.
Alexander Sitnikov, 60 years old, engaged in landscape design
Alexander Alexandrovich works as a forwarding driver. But from childhood he likes to give a second life to old and unnecessary things. Previously, it was not possible to devote oneself to this hobby completely: the area of the apartment did not allow to roam. Now, when Alexander Alexandrovich and his family have their own house, tinkering has become easier and more interesting. In addition, the craftsman devotes a lot of time to landscaping and landscaping the site.
The hobby gives Alexander Sitnikov inspiration and desire to create. Photo: Archive of Alexander Sitnikov
– When you return home and see this beauty, the eye rejoices. Sometimes guests ask who is the author of the design of this or that corner, the master shares.
Alexander’s daughter Daria continues:
– At first, everyone thinks that we are working with designers, but this is just our own, non-standard idea of creating a harmonious space.
When the family bought the plot, there were a lot of stones on it, which cluttered the territory. Alexander Alexandrovich collected them, covered them with earth and created a small alpine slide near the house.
Particular joy, he said, comes from the moments when his wife notices some unnecessary thing, which he found interesting use.
“She sees how what she wanted to throw away turned into something beautiful, and this cheers up all of us,” says Alexander Alexandrovich.
The support of relatives and friends is very important for a master. Friends know about his hobby and often bring old things, which then turn into real art objects.
A hobby takes a lot of time, but often because of work and everyday worries, it is not enough.
“I pay much less attention to my favorite business than I would like,” our hero admits and emphasizes that he would gladly do landscape design professionally, if such an opportunity presented itself.
The result of the work, of course, is important, but for Alexander Alexandrovich, the process of translating his idea into something tangible, immersion in creativity is much more interesting.
“When you see what you have done, you see the reaction of people, it gives inspiration and a desire to create,” he adds. – At a respectable age, getting involved in something is much more interesting. Often, the elderly begin to apathy, but when you are busy with what you love, you forget how old you are.
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