In Sevastopol, local resident Natalia Voronchikhina creates images of Orthodox saints using an unusual material – Crimean cobblestones. For nine years, Natalia served as a personal icon painter for Metropolitan Lazar of Simferopol and Crimea. She painted churches and eventually began transmitting her skills to students at the Sunday school.
The artist creates her images in the kitchen during breaks between teaching and working in the garden. Natalia collects Crimean cobblestones at Cape Fiolent. In her mosaic icons, she also uses polished sea glass and fragments of ancient ceramics from the land of ancient Chersonesus.
The artworks of the Crimean local are not signed, as icon painters do not usually indicate authorship. The mosaic paintings of the craftswoman cannot be seen in the churches – they are acquired by priests, pilgrims, and collectors.
