When I paint, I do not give myself a task. My most important motivation is to first see what I will paint. I only paint what I have seen. I must see my subject within me so that I can try to recreate the impression it leaves on me. I do not wish to merely create a photo, but rather to reproduce the inspiration that nature has breathed into the subject. Thus, all the components in nature (colors, shapes, etc.) are transformed in the painting, where they create their own significance. The importance of color lies in contrasting colors or the addition of new colors, and shapes combine into a new form and become whole.

A painting is a separate universe that exists independently, separately from me. Once it is painted, I see it differently from when I was painting it. A painting expresses the harmony of the whole. It must speak for itself, without explanations.

A composition is born from three important elements: tradition, nature and intuition. Tradition is everything that has been created before us, what we call “timeless”. Without tradition, efforts at creation remain as unfulfilled wishes. For an artist, a connection with nature is imperative to be able to create. An artist is almost like nature itself: without deep involvement in nature, the artist’s work withers. A creator looks with the eyes of a child at the mysterious and the alluring. It is the theme, a seductive mystery, which calls the artist.

I am fascinated with color, its spontaneity and joyful hues. Nature prompts us with its colors, thus the colors and themes of each painting develop on their own. In every painting there are stages or waves. Yesterday, a painting looked one way, today another, and tomorrow – I await something new and unknown. Thus, there will be new impressions and sensations, and as a result, new paintings…

Natalia Kruchkevych