The idea for my 2023 calendar is united Ukraine. Each month of a year symbolizes a Ukrainian region or city (occupied territories too!). Sadly, I can’t place all of them, but it doesn’t make them less important.

January is for Bukovyna. I love Bukovyna in winter holiday! People there know how to celebrate Christmas. This time there are a lot of tourist in cities, Ukrainians want to see loud Malanka festival, eat Christmas borshch in restaurant and see amazing architecture. 

February is for Donbas. In Ukrainian February sounds similar to ‚furious‘ or ‚angry‘ — лютий (luty). We are really angry about Donbas. It is destroying with russian bombs every day. So, this picture is the tree of life of Donbas. We can see tree of life in Ukrainian embroidery really often. Donbas tree of life is surviving the winter and remember its roots.

March is for Dnipro river. Dnipro is awaken from ice, like our history now. Dnipro river regions is famous for lots of metal and rocket manufactures, cossacks traditions and bravery.

April is for Zakarpattia. In April you can witness sakura blooming in Uzhgorod, the oblast main city. Also you can see here old architecture, beautiful Carpathian Mountains and a lot of other amazing stuff! 

May is for Kyiv. The symbol of Kyiv is chestnut. The city is full of chestnut trees and they are blossoming beautifully in May. 

June is for Prychornomoria, which includes Odessa, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. Ukrainians miss warm Black Sea summers so much!

July is for Crimea. Many Ukrainians remember warm summer nights in Crimea and miss them very much. So, I draw traditional Crimean Tatar cayir garden in night. Cayir is almost forgotten forest gardening technic in mountain areas.

August is for Poltava and Kherson region. It is time for famous Sorochynska market and delicious Kherson watermelons.

September is for Kharkiv. Kharkiv is big industrial and student city, so in September streets are filled with freshmen. The heart of the city is Derzhprom, the masterpiece of constructivism architecture. 

October is for Sivershchyna. It's a region of the Desna river basin in the north of Ukraine. This place is famous for this beautiful river and wooden architecture.

November is for Volyn. Volyn region is full of beautiful palaces and mysterious forests. There is a feeling history is following you. 

December is for Lviv and Galychyna. How amazing is Lviv on winter holidays! Snow, verteps, old architecture... By the way, I took color palette of 'Lvivske' beer christmas edition...