Ten years ago, (about 1990), the family of Oleg Liktey read in one of Kiev's newspapers about the great Ukrainian embroiderer and priest from Rome, the renowned Dmitro Blazheyovskiy, who was the creator of dozens of embroidered icons. The article was illustrated by small black-and-white pictures of two of these icons. The Liktey's copied these icons as their first piece of art work. Shortly after, they had the opportunity to meet with the master embroiderer himself when Father Blazheyovskiy came to Ternopil with his exhibit.

Oleg was able to spend some time with the priest to talk about their shared love of the art. During the exhibition period Father Blazheyovskiy shared all of his embroidery secrets with the young family. It was a priceless gift indeed, but it was the priest's words that touched the heart and soul of Oleg. Oleg had praised the old priest's work as being in a class by itself. It was the symbolic words of the priest "I am only the person who leaves the first marks on the snow, other people will follow me", that Oleg would remember later.

As time passed following the priest's exhibition, the Likteys duplicated on canvas almost all of the Old Ukrainian's works. Oleg then wanted to create something unique of his own and began to look for a theme for some future work. It was not long in coming and when it came, it seemed that it came of its own.

The family liked to visit the village of Ostriv near Ternopil and spend time around the chapel built by the natural spring. There on the picturesque hill had been built a replica and symbolic Cross's way of the Son of God about 1990. This led Oleg to frequent reflections about the life of Jesus. It was Christ's sufferings that inspired Oleg's creation of several embroideries that became united under one theme. Oleg began the first stage (icon) of Cross's Way with his older son Sergiy. They drew the pictures on paper with very small lines and together worked on the composition. It was a tremendous undertaking. Only embroidering the black outlines of all of the objects in the icon took nearly a year. They began building their house at about the same time and since they were to do all of the work by their own hands, they had less and less time to devote to the icon. So they worked with it in the few free minutes they could find. Eventually the construction of the house forced them to put the embroidery in a drawer for a long time.

Who is to say, maybe the icon would become lost in the every day problems of a young and busy family. This was not to be because the family soon met with heavy tragedy. On a hot July day the older son, 14 year old Sergiy, went playing with his friend in the cool waters of the river Zbruch. The young man who was his father's partner in creating the first icon was swallowed up by the deep waters of the Zbruch. Oleg and wife, Yaroslava, were far away at the time. Oleg says it is impossible to comprehend but at the time of his death, they heard Sergiy's cry as he was drowning.

From that time forward, the life of the family has been divided into two periods, one before and one after Sergiy's death. Although in the newly built house the younger son is growing up and is close to Oleg and Yaroslava, they constantly feel the invisible presence of older son Sergiy who will never return to them. Maybe it was this incurable, painful wound that forced Oleg Liktey to return to the almost forgotten work which he had begun with Sergiy. Two years ago Oleg made a promise to himself that at any cost he would finish "The Cross's Way" before the 2000-th anniversary of the birth of Christ and in this way to memorialize his son Sergiy. He had to change his job and find more time to work on the passion project but his wife, as always, supported his decision to do so. Day after day and night after night Oleg worked turning the clean pieces of canvas into the pieces of art. After the 2000th Christmas, Liktey Junior put the last needle's stroke on the 14th and last piece of the series "Christ is Put in the Tomb". Oleg liktey says - "I would like for people to take these pictures not only as pieces of art for in these embroideries, I have put all my pain, my patience and my belief in the inevitable resurrection".

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