Hello Subscriber First Name

Last month I wrote about design and protest. This month’s newsletter was going to be about resources in Ukraine to encourage people to follow and buy from creatives, but since I started the situation has changed dramatically. It struck me that the designers, illustrators and developers I knew of may now have fled the country or taken up arms. But I’m going to list them anyway, in hope.

It’s really difficult to know if ‘business as normal’ is appropriate in these circumstances as it is with any event that brings home the fragility of peace and life. It’s unfathomable and so terribly sad to live in a world where this happens.

Yesterday Ann Hawkins wrote these words in the Drive The Network newsletter. “As I write this I’m aware that other wars have been going on that haven’t got the same attention as Russia invading Ukraine but this one is closer to home for those of us in Europe and it feels that we have some power to influence the outcome so we take notice.” I stand by this. Ukraine was (and will remain) on my large list of places to visit by train. I have worked with people who are no longer at their desks, my podcast, The Full Stop has listeners in Ukraine (and Russia) and surrounding counties. I spoke to many in impromptu coffee chats on Zoom during the lockdowns and since; they are friends.

In my March newsletter, you can find…

• Latest news articles from arts publications that detail charities and news of Ukrainian artists that may be new to you as they were to me

• Booklists you can find out more about Ukraine from those who live there and support them (please do buy indie as authors will get more royalties than Amazon)

• Piano art by Marjan Blan

• Linocuts in the colours of the Ukraine flag.

It’s also really important to take care of ourselves too. We can:

• Check sources with fact-finding websites before we share to avoid false news

• Use Twitter lists and mute words if it’s getting too much

• Understand that we can be attentive to our loved ones and our work and if we are distracted, that’s okay

• Limit our time online and be productive when we are, for ourselves and others

• Follow the legitimate charities (you can search their details with the Charities Commission) so we donate money, time and goods wisely.

I hope you find this useful and the words appropriate. Please take good care of yourselves.

With all best wishes,

Berenice (and Molly)

Ways we could help

• Art News spoke to the creative organisers behind Ukrainian Pavilion who were due to take part in Venice Biennale in April 2022. Artists Pavlov Makov and curators Lizaveta German, Maira Lanko, and Borys Filonenk were safe at the time of the article's publication date, 25th February. The article shares links to donations.

• The Stedelijk Museum is mentioned. They are one of many institutions sharing links on Instagram of art initiatives raising money.

• German publication, DW spoke to artists about ‘Stop Putin Now’ and their creative assembly.

• There are many ways to donate, do check that they are legitimate. I’ve checked all the links within this newsletter but you should pay due diligence too. Good To Know has a list of charities and I’ve seen posts from churches collecting goods in the UK to take to countries that have taken in people without fuss or visas. This post lists animal charities. Molly isn’t aware of it, but I’ve packed up spare leads, collars, and dog food which we’ll be donating along with blankets and healthcare products.

Bookmark for better days

Book illustrators

• Natalya Gaida

• Rostyslav Popsky

• Polina Doroshenko

• Olha Havrylova

• Ivan Sulima

Designers and makers

• Elena Popovichenko

• LOOKSGREAT studio

• MIBL Covers

• Yaka Design Burea

• Maksym Stepenko (judge for The Webby awards)

• The First The Last

• Vovk Kseniia, a Squarespace designer

• Mstyslav Chernov is a Ukrainian photographer, born in the east of the country in 1985. He has spent the last few weeks reporting from the region.

• You can use country filters on sites like Etsy, to narrow down the location. It’s obviously going to be a problem shipping anything physical but you can look for digital or downloadable which means your money goes to the maker and they are still providing you with a product.

Reading lists to inform and create an income for authors

• The Literary Hub published this list of books by authors from Ukraine.

• The Keeper of Books on Twitter created several posts of fiction and non-fiction box

Fundraising lino prints

On Facebook, the Linocut Friends of whom I’m a member are creating prints in the colours of the Ukraine flag. Honey Thief is selling mini prints to raise funds and so is Edinburgh Printmaker member Mashatiplady. I will share links on social of artists selling artwork to raise funds as this group of mostly one-wo/man-band artists get their shops sorted out.

Learning business skills and donating

To help women and children in refugee camps in Ukraine, John Espirian, author of Content DNA is donating his time to speak at Lea Turner's online LinkedIn training event on Monday 7 March 2022 1.00pm–2.30pm GMT. You can book here

Quilting in Kyiv

Take a walk through the Quilt festival held in Kyiv, Ukraine in October 2021

Font of the Month

Sergiy Tkachenko is a type designer who lives in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. He has created a wide range of glorious fonts since starting his type design practice in 2008. His fonts are also practical for anyone producing translations as it contains Cyrillic character sets. You can view and buy from My Fonts and see his Fonts In Use here.

Find Hello Lovely on Twitter and LinkedIn