No Boring White

  "Polina Raiko (May 15, 1928 – January 15, 2004) is a Ukrainian self-taught artist in the style of naive painting. Polina Raiko had had a stressful life. The woman survived the death of her daughter in a car accident, the death of her husband, and the several years of beatings from her own son. When the son was sentenced to a prison colony, Polina Raiko began to paint on the walls of the empty house in the age of 69. She had spent almost her entire pension on paint until her death in 2004. Polina Raiko had no art education. The artist’s imagery combines Christian, Soviet, and pagan symbols. With simple colors she painted her own house, the summer kitchen, the gates, the fences, and garage doors, portraying her own life, the lives of her relatives and pets, pictures of nature. After the death of Polina Raiko, her works of art became a subject of interest among art lovers. In 2005, Totem Center for Youth Initiatives published a catalog of Raiko’s works entitled The Road to Heaven.

Forty Shades of Green  Performed by Johnny Cash and friends I close my eyes and picture the emerald of the sea From the fishing boats at Dingle to the shores of Donaghadee I miss the River Shannon and the folks at Skibbereen The moorlands and the meadows with their forty shades of green  But most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town And most of all I miss her lips as soft as eider down Again I want to see and do the things we've done and seen Where the breeze is sweet as Shalimar and there's forty shades of green I wish that I could spend an hour at Dublin's churning surf How I long to watch the farmers drain the bogs and spade the turf To see again the thatching of the straw the women glean I would walk from Cork to Larne to see the forty shades of green But most of all I miss a girl in Tipperary town And most of all I miss her lips as soft as eider down Again I want to see and do the things we've done and seen Where the breeze is sweet as Shalimar and th

  As we're approaching the 17th March, which is Saint Patrick's Day , I will post several considerations about this festive date and, of course, Ireland. While I was researching its popularity in the USA I found this infographic. What caught my eye was this particular line: "32.3 million US residents claimed to have Irish heritage in 2016. That is more than seven times the population of Ireland. " That was back in 2016. What about today, I wonder? Women's American Apparel Fine Jersey T-Shirt - Made in the USA To buy or to personalize you must log in to the store. Magnet-backed bottle opener. Opens standard beer and soda cap bottles. Made in the U.S.A. To buy or to personalize you must log in to the store.  Irish is ranked within the top three ancestry groups people report in the census. Irish heritage is strong in America: More than 31.5 million residents claim Irish ancestry, second only to German (43.0 million). U.S. presidents, including current President Joe