Sunflower project in the Night Heron Watercolor Artists group.

Sunflower project in the Night Heron watercolor artists group.

  There are still many innocent civilians suffering from war in Ukraine. In the early days of the war, real-time reports of the horrors and current status of the war were reported through various media outlets and YouTube channels. However, as the war continues for a long time and does not seem to stop easily, related news is gradually disappearing from the main issues.

  It will be of some help to support them without forgetting them even for a moment. Of course, we also know that donations are made through various routes. I used to be involved here.

 Today, I attended the group meeting of The Night Heron Watercolor Painters who meet every Thursday.

​ In today's meeting, we had time to register works to be exhibited at the annual art show. And Mary, the vice president, suggested that we draw a group of sunflowers, the symbol of Ukraine, in order to support Ukrainians. She showed me a large piece of paper and several pictures of sunflowers to use as a reference. Painters in attendance are required to paint sunflowers here in their own colors and styles.

  ​The blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag represent the blue sky and the earth, respectively. Ukraine is Europe's breadbasket, accounting for 54% of the world's sunflower seed oil exports in 2020, and earning US$4.7 billion (about 5.6 trillion won).

  As such, the sunflower has become the symbol of Ukraine. 

​ On a news site I stumbled across, I found a video of a Ukrainian grandmother yelling at a heavily armed Russian soldier. In this video that began to spread on the Internet, the grandmother seemed not afraid of bullets, and said, "You are a fascist occupation force." "Put sunflower seeds in your pocket. If you fall on this land, sunflowers will grow." The tragic modern history of Ukraine is condensed in the cry of the grandmother.

Source by: Youtube

  ​I hope the day will come when the curses and aspirations of the Ukrainian grandmother will be turned into hope and laughter. With that in mind, the artists drew sunflowers on a large piece of paper.

   Later on, the sunflowers will fill a sheet of paper as large as a table. Like sunflowers that are completely filled, like the hearts of painters who long for peace, I hope that the war will end as soon as possible so that we can see the beautiful sunflower fields in Ukraine freely.