Do you want me?

Oil and acrylic on top quality canvas

size 50 x 50 cm

no frame

Do you want me?

When I hear this phrase, I immediately think of a wonderful, kind, sensitive, animal-loving and protective person, Zdeněk Hrstka. Since I myself am active and volunteer with associations and people protecting the health and welfare of animals, this man is one of those exceptional people who not only talked about rescue, but also acted and changed the way people looked at and treated animals. He promoted the adoption of dogs instead of buying them from poofider " breeders ", he fought against this horror committed against animals and until his death he was dedicated to educating in this field. His work was absolutely unique and genuine, sincere, selfless and he accomplished so much. This image was created when remembering the wonderful man Zdeněk Srstka and his work, which was started by Marta Kubišová, which he continued passionately, pushing it beyond the limits of the then standard. I am also filled with a tremendous amount of gratitude and admiration towards people who, like him, invest a significant part of their lives, free time and torn hearts into working with animals and saving them at the expense of their comfort and sometimes emotional and even physical health, because this work means seeing a lot of suffering and it is then hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, it is thanks to these people, many of whom I know personally, that I still think that angels are simply among us, and they give me back my constantly losing illusions of good triumphing over evil and the monstrousness of the actions of some "humans". 

Below I would like to attach a part of the memoirs of Marta Kubišová, Srstek's colleague, who was also very involved in the fight for animal rights for many years."

" I immediately thought of the title of the book "The Good Man is Still Alive" by Romain Rolland and said to myself: 'Well, the good man is no longer alive.' He was kind, he was full of strength, you could feel it in him."

         He was a thunderer with a gentle and good heart who loved animals." 

         The scene from the New Year's Eve edition that sticks in my mind the most is the one we shot together. We were filming the main scene together regarding "Do You Want Me" and he went to the school farm where he was walking a cow. His father was a butcher, so that's probably why Zdenek felt so much sympathy for the animals that he wanted to protect them all. The scene with the cow is etched in my memory."

Kubišová recalled the moment when they became colleagues in moderation.

Quotes from the interview published on www.idnes.cz