Swedish blacksmith sells 30 works to purchase ambulance for Armed Forces of Ukraine
"When the war broke out, I started painting to focus on something, because I could neither eat, nor sleep, nor work in the first days of the war. It was art therapy. I tried to draw everything I heard on the news. My wife suggested selling drawings, but I hesitated, doubting that people need them. However, I made an attempt and published photos of drawings on Instagram and Facebook. Then I realized that people buy them to support Ukraine. I made copies of each drawing, there were 30 of them with author's signatures. I put them up for sale and the works were sold out. That's how I collected $7,000 for an ambulance, but I will not stop and will continue doing this," Ludvig Ödman said while on his visit to Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
He added that blacksmiths from Sweden and Norway were currently collecting money in various ways to help the Ukrainian military. Someone meets different people and collects money, others sell their sculptures and put various things up for auction. This group is called "Union for Ukraine – Blacksmiths Without Borders".
"This is already the 9th vehicle that we transfer to the frontline thanks to our ‘blacksmith front’ created at the beginning of the war," said Viktor Vintoniak, co-founder of the international Blacksmiths' Festival in Ivano-Frankivsk.
According to him, masters from Canada, the USA, Slovakia, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and Australia are currently the most active in the community. Thanks to joint efforts, it was already possible to send eight SUVs to the frontline, he said, adding that now an ambulance will go there to save the lives of military personnel in Kharkiv region.
"Thanks to volunteers, the vehicles do not go to the front line empty, they are filled with everything necessary for soldiers," Viktor Vintoniak added.
Now he hopes to see all the blacksmiths in Ivano-Frankivsk after the war as soon as possible. After all, the Blacksmiths' Festival was held here 17 times in a row and became a real landmark of the city.
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