THE HISTORY OF DS ARTISTRY LABS
since 1997
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Our DS Artistry Labs (formerly DS Art Studio), uses “artistry” to refer to high-level skills in working with rare and antique items, and hints at the extensive knowledge of artistic styles and historic methodologies, taste developed from the study of art history, and from our sensitive involvement with art production. As to “labs”, it points to the fact that each stage of the work is associated with proficiency and brilliant craftsmanship.
Our story began in 1997, first in Ukraine, then continued for 10 years in Italy, where we gained significant experience, to then further develop our skills completing an MA and a PhD at Western University, London, Ontario. We have now re-opened our atelier in Southern Ontario.
WHO WE ARE
DIANA BYCHKOVA
BFA and MFA in bookmaking, history of the book and printing, and book restoration (the National Academy of Arts and Architecture Kyiv, Ukraine, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy); MA of Library and Information Science (Western University, Canada); PhD in Arts and Humanities (Western University, Canada). WES accreditation.
STEPAN ROMANYSHYN
College of Fine Arts in woodworking and fine carvings; BFA and MFA in conservation/restoration of paintings, woods, and decorative art (the National Academy of Arts and Architecture in Kyiv, Ukraine), Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, certificate (Italy). WES accreditation.
SERVICES PROVIDED & ITEMS WE SELL:
Multi-level work with rare books collections and archives: arrangement and description (from the viewpoint of historical methods of book production and the history of collections); digitization and creation of online/printed catalogues; information retrieval and research based on historical data; book/paper conservation and restoration; bookbinding; exhibit curation; personalized ex-libris for the collections.
Etchings and engravings (any kind of picture can be engraved on metal/wood to be hand-printed in multiple copies, so that each copy will be, in fact, an original artwork); original printing (limited editions of etchings or woodcuts hand-printed on the etching press); calligraphy (for different purposes); catalogues/layout design; book Illustrations and other graphic/publishing works.
Conservation and restoration of antique items, including furniture, wood and polychrome sculptures, paintings on wood and canvas, icons, objects from ivory or precious materials, works of decorative art, and books (see also Rare Books Lab). We can provide, when necessary, all the documentation related to the processes of work, descriptions and before-during-after pictures, as well as research on the history of a given item or collection.
Creation of custom-made collectibles for everyday use. The services include design, development of models, carvings from ivory, corals, mother-of-pearl, amber, precious woods, with incrustations from silver, nacre, and other materials. Figures of any motif and style can be developed for your order or re-created from an existing picture, such as table sculptures, walking sticks, prototypes of objects to be cast in metal, decorative elements for furniture, and so forth.
Design and production of any type of wooden furniture and in a style taken from any epoch & culture: beds, chairs, tables, secretaries, sculptures, decorative details, and more.
OUR COLLABORATORS
We collaborate with other professionals on an occasional basis, self-employed individuals, including archivists, professional consultants, IT support, carpenters, printing shops, translators, etc., depending on the projects.
COME WORK WITH US
We are always happy to meet new people in our fields, to exchange experience, to extend the range and depth of services we provide, and to create potential collaborations on future projects.
If you believe your background and experience can be a good addition to a specific service we offer, or you are excited about the works we do and would like to join our team, please tell us about yourself and submit your resume by e-mail to: info@dsartistrylabs.com
Diana with her teacher of book binding and conservation, V. Chebanyk, (Kyiv's Academy of Arts, 1996-2002)
OUR BACKGROUND
The diversity of services we offer comes from our background and experience gained in different cultural contexts. We completed a 6-year full-time bachelor program at the Academy of Arts in Kyiv. A lengthy and in-depth traditional education makes quite a difference when it comes to professionalization. A common assumption that reduces an art education to drawing classes does not apply to a university that respects the traditions and standards of the arts that have been developed over many centuries. Furthermore, in order to get into the Academy of Arts, one must have completed either a 12-year art school, and/or a 4-year professional college after high school, and has to pass a highly demanding admission exams (admission rate to our school was one student out of 100 candidates). This ensures both a high entry-level candidats and the acquisition of professional standards.
Stepan with his teacher of wood restoration, V. Koval (Kyiv's Academy of Arts, 1996-2002)
The constant supervision by great scholars and masters of crafts during the 6-year program, several joint disciplines, and the requirements of theoretic and practical skills, go hand in hand in forming a skilled professional figure. For instance, the study of conservation/restoration is not limited to preventing an artwork or a book from further deterioration, but also allows the candidates to be trained in the reconstruction of missing parts of an antique item, and that requires both knowledge of the history of art styles/aesthetics and, simultaneously, the ability to create items according to the original methods, from the ancient to modern times, and covering a variety of Western and Eastern cultures.
Vitaly Mitchenko, a professor of the history of handwriting and one of the leading calligraphers, Kyiv, 1999.
Diana's handwritten calligraphy used to cerate a family tree on parchment
Apart from high-level craftsmanship, we can, with some degree of creativity, use such a base as a valuable tool for developing new collectible pieces by relying on the techniques borrowed from great artists of the past. For example, skills in calligraphy may be used to reconstruct the missing pages of an old book but also to create pages in any style of historic handwriting, like Gothic or Byzantine, to design a family tree or a product for publication. The same way, skills in wood/sculpture restoration will be put to use to reconstruct the missing parts of antique furniture, but also to design and carve collectible walking sticks, miniature sculptures, etc.
Diana is restoring an old book (left) like these, and creating art books with etchings (right) like these.
Stepan is restoring a polychrome sculpture (left) like these, and carving miniatures (right) like these.
EXPERIENCE & RELATED SERVICES
Our over 20 years of experience working with important European collectors of antique pieces, with publishers of art editions, and other figures of related professions, helped us develop our artistic eye when apprising/describing old items and deepen our mastery of execution when creating new collectible carvings or printed limited editions. Graduate studies added to our skills the ability to work with library and archival materials, and conduct research in relation to the collections.
Diana B.:
I worked as a professional bookmaker/ book restorer for 12 years in both Eastern and Western Europe. I collaborated with Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, and Arabic publishing houses, as well as with the antiquarian shops, museums, and printing studios.
Making a series of fake book bindings for a customer
When working in Italy, I also designed, developed in detail, and published my own art books with etchings and woodcuts printed on the chalcographic press, texts printed with movable types, handwritten calligraphies, and leather bindings. Most of my books, which won several international awards in Italy, France, and Russia, were exhibited and entered private and museum collections. I offered the same range of services to customers, from engravings to original printing, to handmade bindings, and to calligraphies used for different purposes.
Giovanni Serafini presenting my artbook (top), and the limited edition artbook, Silence (bottom), with some other bindings, Bergamo, 2009.
In Milan, I worked on limited editions — art books or series of prints — with such figures as Giorgio Upiglio, who was one of the leading specialists of the old-school masters (who worked before the digital era) in printing, typography and bookmaking. The range and level of works that I did at his atelier provided me with a significant professional and artistic development, helped me to grasp the finest nuances of historical techniques of printing (e.g. about 40 methods of etching on metal), as well as aided me in building my work ethics.
With Giorgio Upiglio (1932-2013) at his atelier in Milan, 2007
Stepan R.:
I began my experience by making and selling paintings together with my uncle, Mihaylo Romanishin (1933-1999), a well-known Soviet-Ukrainian painter. This, in combination with the College degree in woodworking, led me to follow both paths simultaneously and to gain a degree in the conservation and restoration of paintings, woods, and decorative art.
Selling my paintings at the historic Andrew's Descent, Kyiv, 1997
With my carver's skills, I rebuilt old furniture and sculptures, I used knowledge of painting techniques to restore paintings on wood and canvas, and also created fine carvings. I worked at the National Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv, where I developed and implemented many complex restoration projects: from icons on wood to painted wood sculptures, to antique furniture that needed reconstruction, and to paintings on canvas. I offered the same range of services to private clients for whom I also created brand new furniture in antique stiles.
Restoration of a painting on wood (top) and of a chair (bottom), 2001
When we moved to Italy, I had a chance to join an art-artisan atelier in Milan, where I carved miniatures – such as table sculptures and walking sticks – from materials that I had never used before. That experimentation allowed me to immensely develop my creative and craft skills because of the complexity of the objects ordered, mostly copies of antique items. I used precious woods (e.g. rosewood, blackwood), corrals, amber, silver, mother-of-pearl, and ivory to create collectible items that later joined private collections worldwide.
The copper plate with carved pieces of corrals, 2006 (top), and a handle of a walking stick carved from ivory (bottom), 2013, Milan
Some of my fine carvings, which I created in my speare time, won international jewelry awards and entered private collections.
Restoration of several polychrome sculptures with the reconstruction of some of the parts and the gilding.
With a dear customer, in Milan
Restoration of a gilded frame for painting, with some missing stucco.
We often performed a four-hand work, bringing together our skills and individual experience. Such projects included restoration of furniture when the wooden parts were worked out, reconstructed, and lacquered appropriately by Stepan, while the leather or fabric parts were made by Diana. Some projects included such processes as gilding with leaves of gold (made by both of us), engravings of hand-written inscriptions (by Diana), then tinting (by Stepan) and, finally, making a box for a given item (by Stepan) and covering it with leather (by Diana). Or, when working on a large series of 150 icons: wood plates were prepared and undercoated according to the painting techniques (by Stepan), drawings reproduced (together), faces painted (by Stepan), clichés engraved on linoleum and printed to reproduce clothes parts (by Diana). Or, when creating decorations for the interiors, as well.
Such works required the combination of our skills.
Covering a table with leather (a contemporary design for interiors)
Making a series of icons
.
Restoration of a carved and gilded bed, Milan, 2009
Diana:
When cooperating with museums and book dealers, I planned and implemented large projects of the conservation/ restoration of old/rare books collections, along with keeping the documentation of each work stage (before, during, after the restoration). I worked with prints and books as pieces of art and samples of history. I also had a chance to gain experience working with historical documents and manuscripts at several large libraries and archives in Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and Russia.
At the Antiquarian Book Fair in Parma (top), and the restoration of an old book (bottom), 2013, Italy.
Stepan:
At work on a pantograph to engrave inscriptions on metal in Milan, Italy.
The restoration works that were requested on a regular basis included paintings, wood sculptures, objects from ivory, and all possible variants of the items of decorative art, from jewelry to ceramics, to vases with smalto, to marble tables, to fashion mannequins, and pieces of furniture.
The restoration of a vase cast in metal, 2010, Milan.
At some point, I advanced my skills by attending a program of publishing at the Catholic University in Milan, and a course on the history of books at the University in Pavia. This allowed me to apply historic methods and modern publishing standards to create art editions aimed to large print, and use layout design principles to create exhibit catalogues and other editorial products.
Presenting our publishing products at the international book fairs in Bologna, Turin, Frankfurt, Moscow, and Toronto, 2005-2014
When visiting antiquarian fairs — which we used to do on a regular basis when lived in Italy — we cooperated with dealers to restore furniture, books, ivories, to create new collectible items, and to sell our own art books.
We created a number of children's books like this, and that was a four-hand work as well: from selecting the texts, to inventing hundreds of humorous characters (Stepan), to developing drawings with many details (Diana), to painting the pages (Stepan), to creating layout design and adding the final details (Diana). We published our books in cooperation with printing shops and presented them at international book fairs.
At the illustrators' corner, where book artists looking for jobs and publishers looking for artists normally leave their advertising materials. Bologna Children's Book Fair.
Gluing pockets with answers on book pages with easy riddles, 2011
The curiosity of interacting with rare books and manuscripts, and the extensive professional experience, led me to come back to school to obtain a MA of Library Science, at Western University (London, Ontario, Canada), and to complete my PhD dissertation on the history of book and publishing, on principles of word-image adaptation, the semiotics of art, and the relations between the creator and the receiver of an illustrated book.
This combination of work and study allowed me to apply my practical knowledge to work with books and artifacts in relation to history and the theories that stand behind the creative process, to work with special collections on many levels, to approach library projects from different angles, to create appropriate descriptions and tools that facilitate the discoverability, as I know this field from hands-on experience.
The process of making and printing etchings, and writing historic types of calligraphy, 2012, Milan, Italy (top). The incunables on which I worked at the Archives and Special Collections at Western Libraries, 2016-2018, Canada (bottom).
I gained great experience in archival work, including arrangement, description, digitization, and development of preservation strategies. I worked as an assistant at the Archives of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, London ON., then at the Library and Learning Services, Huron College Library, London ON, and at the Archives and Special Collections at Western Libraries. I worked closely with rare collections, investigated in detail the entire stacks of rare books in order to identify and record through database books and ensure their retrievability on the library catalogue. I analyzed 15th-century incunables from the Barnett collection, and wrote a monograph on the art of early printed books. I curated several exhibits of rare collections and archives. These activities provided me with skills in collection management, digitization, description, cataloguing, exhibit curation, research, and creation of discoverability tools.
I sometimes had such orders as to carve and paint a Crucifixion, making a polychrome sculpture, or to carve the rubber prototypes used to be cast in metal for the parts of furniture or religious items like a chalice.
Just before submitting the work, the Crucifixion carved from walnut and painted to make a polychrome sculpture (top), and the conservation and restoration of a polychrome figure (bottom), Milan, 2011.
When we moved to Canada and re-opened our atelier in London ON, the works completed took a little different direction, with a focus on creating collectibles and services/tools for the collections.
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