Galina Fasovska - Monna Candles

Galina is from the Ukraine but lives in Poland now with her family.

While browsing on Etsy (one of my favourite things to do) I found Galina's Candles. They're no ordinary candles.  

You may have seen some videos of candle carvings, they are so beautiful and Galina's are a perfect example of this very old creative skill.  Galina spent three years learning how to perfect the candles and finding out as much as possible about her craft but she still says she has much to learn.  

I love this close up image, you can see all the layers quite clearly.

Here's Galina getting everything ready to start a candle.  There are lots of videos on You Tube about how this is done.  I won't share any here as none of them are Galina's but they're there to go and have a look at.  Also on Galina's website HERE you will find step by step images.

Carved candles are all started with a wax core that is then dipped between different colour waxes and cool water.  The cool water just cools the outer layer the inside stays warm so that it can be carved without splintering.

Galina uses 'clean' paraffin that doesn't emit smoke, without any fragrance.  Stearic Acid is added to the core so that it's hardness is increased. 100% Cotton Wicks are used for Galina's candles. Then once the Candle Core is complete and hard Galina can begin dipping in the various coloured wax, I think this is the bit that I find fascinating.  So while Galina is dipping the candle in the wax, she must have an idea of how it's going to look at carving, but at this point can only see the last layer of wax.

I love both of the candles above but especially the rainbow one, that is just so pretty. We'll have a look at a few more then we'll meet Galina.

Wedding Candles

The candles are beautiful aren't they..

Galina and I had a few chats via email so let's see what Galina had to say...

Hello Galina.....

Please tell us a little about you..

My name is Galina and I am from Ukraine. Two last years I am living and working in Poland. I do my own business here together with my husband. I am 43 years old and have two daughter 8 and 15 years

Tell us about your art now and what you do

Carved candles is very old technology. It is invented by Old Middle Ages Candle Masters somewhere in Holland and their technology secrets passed down from generation to generation. 

That is why you will not find to many traditional carved candles creators in the world. I have been spent last three years to learn how to carve candles and I have had a lot of trials and errors before I satisfied with the result. 

Even now I am still continue learning some new techniques for wedding unity candles. Every half a year I am renewing my collection. So, every year - new candles in the range.

What is your earliest creative memory?

Maybe you will be surprised but I had never seen myself being an Artist. But everything has changed when I first saw the video about carved candles creation process and I decide to do the same at any cost. And I did it at the end of the day. 

I love how you've taught yourself a whole new skill and built yourself a business doing it - that's highly commendable Galina.

Do you ever suffer from a creative block and if so how do you get yourself out of it?

Yes, it is happening time to time, but I am lucky because my husband is helping me a lot and supporting me when I am suffering with such feeling. He actually was the one who helped me to find the best combination of colours for my favourite candles.

That's lovely that he is so supportive

Who inspires you?

All my family and especially my husband.

What is your favourite piece of work that you've created?

Oh, I love all of my candles that you can see at my Etsy shop. Sometime my clients choose candles, which was not expected become Bestsellers from my point of view. So, the top rated candles are listed in my BESTSELLERS section of my online shop.

What are your creative ambitions for the future?

Now I am creating a new collection for Christmas time. I start in Summer time for being ready to present it for the end of September of 2015. In addition, I am following new trends of colour variation for weddings and in this regards I have several new ideas…and it is continuing…

How do you silence your inner critic?

Most of critic is not inner and is coming from my husband, and we are fixing this critical point together.

What do you do when you're not being creative?

In such situation I am looking for any creative arts …and it is doesn't matter which kind of Art…it’s helping to refresh your mind…

Tell us where we can find your work and your social media sites

www.facebook.com/MonnaCandle

twitter.com/MonnaCandles

monna-candles.com

pinterest.com/monnacandles/

monnacandles.tumblr.com

Thank you for allowing me to share your work Galina, your candles are beautiful.

I wish you lots of success with your Etsy shop.

This, to me, is what this blog is about, finding that one thing that sparks your creativity and makes you think, I'm going to do this, this is 'my thing'.