Tomáš Mikolaj
At the beginning of Master of Folk Art Production Štefan Rutzký’s story lies his friendship with ÚĽUV’s artist of many years, Janka Menkynová, who worked the most on the theme of pressed straw. After losing her job in 1990, his wife Agneša began to make dolls dressed in folk costumes thanks to her personal acquaintance with ÚĽUV’s artist. Alongside her, Štefan Rutzký, a qualified architect, soon also began working with ÚĽUV in the field of greeting cards, pictures and decorations made of pressed straw.
He acknowledges his penchant for architecture in the themes of his straw greeting cards and pictures: wooden churches, dominant Bratislava landmarks, folk architecture… However, he also likes to capture scenes from traditional village life or the world of children, Easter and Christmas motifs or his latest: fourteen stations of the cross. He masterfully combines various shades of straw, reaching to thick coloured paper or fabric stuck on background paper to highlight details or create a specific atmosphere. In time, his wife also started working with pressed straw. They each have their own style, dependent on their work tools (his wife cuts out geometrical shapes with scissors), but they inspire each other and move forwards.