Interview with Kateryna Savchenko

Tell us about how you got to where you are now.

I graduated from university in Kiev with a bachelor’s diploma in architecture – but now, watercolor painting and design is everything to me. While I was studying in university, we had so many hours of drawing and painting. During those 4 years, I had a chance to try so many materials and watercolor became so special to me because it is the only way to attain transparency.

The life I lead now, as a mother, wife and watercolor Illustrator is very linked to moving to Norway in 2012 to live with my husband, who is also Ukrainian but happened to be living there. I fell in love with Norway on the very first visit and I still think that this is one of the best places in the world.

Another very important part of my life is Diamond Way Buddhism, to which I am very dedicated.

How and when did you start exploring yourself creatively through drawing?

I discovered and fell in love with watercolor while experimenting with different techniques in university. The transparency of watercolor that I could manipulate by adding a few layers of paint allowed me to create absolutely unique colors that play and sparkle. Every watercolor painting/illustration is one of a kind and you can never copy a work, even if you want to. Compared to oil painting, watercolors are relatively easy to work with and you can always have your pallet with you.

Inspiration can come from anywhere for me. At the beginning, inspiration mainly came from other artist’s work, like vintage botanical illustrations, Instagram and Pinterest… After a while, I started my own research of beauty and elegance. It’s like a burning desire to create something absolutely unique that would communicate a bit of my own personality. Nowadays, I take a lot o pictures of flowers, fruits and leaves to use as my own references. Nature is so much more inspiring to me than it was a few years ago.

What was your starting point and inspiration behind the work you developed for Monarte? What did your creative process look like?

I created a painting with fruits that appeared to me to be so much fun – I had the chance to play with the textures of citrus and create a composition with the leaves. I spent many hours sketching the composition before I was absolutely satisfied with it.  I wanted the whole painting to be fresh and colorful and I hope that the people will enjoy wearing this lively summer design. 

The "Juicy Summer" Monarte Piece

Summer is the time of year when we feel most alive, free and fun. There is nothing more synonymous with summer than the fresh smell of fruit and flowers, than lively colors, than a freshly squeezed lemonade under a shade. Kateryna Savchenko’s creation transports us to a warm dusk under the shade of an orange or lemon tree.