Zhostovo border

This decorative tangle was inspired by the Russian style of Zhostovo painting. It is the type of border you might see around the metal trays of hand painted florals.   --- You can see that I used parts of this tangle on one of the balls in 'the party's over'.

I've been doing decorative painting for quite a while and I was lucky enough to take a class with a Russian master when he came to the US. His name is Slava - and I can't spell his last name. He demonstrated the techniques to us and we followed along. He didn't speak much English so it was mostly watch and do. We did find out that on the trays the floral area is done by the masters and the borders are done by the apprentices. They have actual factories that create these trays. Mostly they are done for tourists but the masters do some special pieces and receive special awards for them. They are considered national treasures and these artists are limited as to how many they can take out of the country to sell themselves. I bought one and admire it frequently.