The Wheel of Time: Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000)

Postcard BY-1563582 from Belarus shows a still-life painting from a past exhibition the Wheel of Time. Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000) at the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.

Valerian K. Zholtok was born December 13, 1919 in Zhlobin Gomel region in Belarus from a family of railroad employee. She graduated from the Vitebsk Art School in 1939, and had received many awards throughout her career. Many of her works are in collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian Union of Artists, Museum of Modern Art in Minsk, Belarus, and other institutes and individuals in UK, USA, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Japan.

Many of the plants in her paintings were grown by her own hands.

Try to be a Rainbow in Someone’s Cloud

USPS unveiled the Dr. Maya Angelou Forever Stamp image today on March 4, 2015, and announced that the stamp's First-Day-of-Issue as April 7, 2015 with the dedication ceremony at the Warner Theater in Washington, DC.

Maya Angelou (April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American author, poet, dancer, actress, singer, and champion of civil rights. One of the most dynamic voices in 20th-century American literature, she was known for her series of autobiographies. The first of the seven in the series, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” published in 1969, gave a vivid account for her childhood against the African-American life in the South as the background.

Postcard BY-892970 from Belarus shows a rainbow over the National Library in Minsk. Although unrelated, it does remind me a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou: "Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud." In "the Letter to My Daughter" in 2009, She said "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." Dr. Maya Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993. I can't wait to see the stamp.

SuperGraphic: Blue Cats by Rina Z

Postcard BY-1535613 from Belarus shows a painting of Blue Cats by artist Rina Z from Minsk, Belarus, who is specialized in watercolor, raster (digital) graphics, and mixed technique. Her cats are blue only in color, not in their mood, as they are always positive, energetic and adventurous. 

Coincidentally, the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is hosting a "Lucky Cat" exhibition, showcasing a 9-foot or 2.75-meter chrome-finished Japanese style maneki-neko (招財貓), the fortunate beckoning cat said to bring good luck and money to business establishments. Therefore, you would often see a Lucky Cat at the entrance of Asian jewel shops and restaurants beckoning and greeting customers by waving it's paw. The Cosmopolitan Lucky Cat extends this concept further by sharing its good fortune with its guests: guests over 21 years old can touch the Lucky Cat's paw once a day to receive a Cosmopolitan promotion.

Minsk Magical Time

Postcard BY-1353861 from Belarus shows an illustration of historical Minsk under the starry night sky, designed by Catherine Hancharyk. You can see more of her art works here. It has expanded my Minsk collection.

Bright Summer Night on Braslav

Postcard BY-1162713 from Belarus shows "Bright Summer Night on Braslav", by Minsk photographer and astronomer Viktor Malyschits known for his many beautiful night views of Belarus on the background of sparkling stars. You can learn more about Viktor and his photos from an interview Love the Stars and their Country in Russian at Onliner.

Holy Spirit Cathedral in Minsk

Postcard BY-1136358 from Belarus shows the Holy Spirit Cathedral, the central cathedral of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, in Minsk, Belarus. The Cathedral dates back to 1633-1642 when the city was in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It suffered fire damages in 1741 and was reconstructed afterwards.

Among the various images of saints inside the Cathedral, the Theotokos icon of Virgin Mary, "Mother of God", has been believed as miraculous with tears of diamonds to help people in poverty.

2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk, Belarus

Postcard BY-1073799 from Belarus was one of the earliest Christmas themed cards that I received. It arrived in the mid November with Santa Claus playing ice hockey. It turns out that Minsk, the capital of Belarus, will host the 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship from May 9 to May 25, 2014. Good luck and Congratulations!

House of the Rising Sun

Postcard BY-1046781 from Belarus shows a photo titled the House of the Rising Sun by Vlad Sokolovsky, featuring a beautiful morning scene at the Minsk Sea in Fall 2011.  You can visit the photographer's other works at Foto.BY. He also has a blog on landscape photography at LiveJournal.

Minsk National Airport

Minsk-2 Airport

Postcard BY-872058 from Belarus shows the Minsk National Airport (MSQ). Its former name was Minsk-2 so as to be distinguished from the smaller city Minsk-1 Airport in Minsk downtown. It is the main international airport in Belarus, located 42 km or 26 miles to the east of the capital.

The airport construction started in 1977 and the new 3,640 m long and 60 m wide runway was completed in 1979. The airport opened in 1982 with the terminal capacity of 5,8 million passengers per year. The regular flights began in 1983.

From the postmark, the postcard had traveled 120 days before it showed up in my mailbox Saturday.

Minsk, the City and the Rivers

Postcard BY-982349 from Belarus arrived today with a panorama view of the Trinity Suburb and the Svislach river embankment. Minsk is the capital of Belarus. With a population of 2,002,600 in 2013, it is the largest city in Belarus. The earliest history of Minsk dates as far as the 11th century. The settlement developed on the Svislach and Nyamiha rivers.

Greetings from Minsk

I love the recently received postcard BY-927451 from Belarus. It shows a part of city Minsk called
Troitskoye Predmestye (Trinity Suburb) in vivid colors. In spite of the name of Suburb, it is Minsk's old town, located in the center of Minsk and was a cultural and economic center about 100 years ago. On the left bottom of the postcard, it says:" Greetings from Minsk" in native Belarusian language.