Olha Otnyakina (Berdnyk)

Olha is a Cherkasy master of ornamented ceramic toy. From white clay, she makes shapes of animals, birds, marvelous creatures and decorates them by tempera paints. She has developed an original style for which she was inspired by the works of Mariah Pryimachenko.

Creative work

The master has been fruitfully working in the ceramic toy genre for more than 20 years. She has created thousands of fabulous, fantastically ornamented animal-whistles. It’s not just children’s toys that the master is creating having developed her own original technique and style. Fairy-tales, mystery, songs and sayings come to life in her images – it is that kind of children’s folklore that has survived thousands of years and is an echo of ancient Ukrainian beliefs.