Jiri Vydra - a glimpse of eternity in a child's vision
Jiri Vydra is a painter and sculptor who loves to share his gift with others, driven by his own, very personal sense of spirituality. For years he has been working with children, and with his own childlike enthusiasm he has helped to inspire hundreds of children to express themselves through painting. Some of his most extraordinary and inspiring work has been with the mentally disabled, with children who spend most of their lives shut away in homes. Jiri Vydra's cottage in the rolling Brdy Hills is just a few kilometers from one of these homes, Leontin Castle, a big 19th century mansion in the middle of an ancient park. Here, with typical enthusiasm, he talks about the joy he feels when he cycles up to the top of the hill to paint with the disabled children at Leontin.
"When I see the children in the park at Leontin, playing and running around under the ancient plane and oak trees, which stand there like Titans in the wind, it reminds me of man's struggle to survive in the face of illness or failure. We have to learn to stand up to the wind, like the solitary oak at that highest point in Leontin park. I feel drawn back to that place again and again. There's one lad there called Pepicek, who I love to paint with. He has painted some wonderful pictures of the sea, with a steamship. H
