DPW Spotlight Interview: Ekaterina Prisich

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings. To enter to win Ekaterina's painting "Pomegranate fruit on branches" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Ekaterina's DPW Gallery Page:

Hello! I'm a Siberian artist and designer. In my paintings, I pay attention to the harmony and beauty of simple moments of life and elements of nature.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I can say that I have been painting for as long as I can remember. This hobby began in childhood. Over time, I entered art school and became more seriously engaged in painting and arts and crafts. It so happened that after leaving school, I connected my life with art too.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Although I always understood that I loved painting, I decided to get a modern profession. So I entered the graphic design department at university to study computer programs, typography, art history, and other interesting disciplines. After graduating, I got a job in my specialty, and at that time I practically stopped painting. This period lasted about five years. Only in the spring of 2020 I plunged headlong into the world of paints and canvases again.

Pomegranate fruit on branches
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Ekaterina's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

Thanks to studying at the Faculty of Arts, I was able to try myself in painting, drawing, graphics and sculpture. Much has been studied in genres: from still life and landscape to portrait and figure composition. I was also fond of fashion illustration and botanical painting.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

Currently, I am fascinated by the search for harmonious color combinations when depicting landscapes with acrylics, as well as painting plants in watercolors. Sometimes I paint portraits of people and animals. But I can say that graphics and drawing are not very attractive to me now, perhaps I will return to this later.

Burnt orange abstract landscape
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

Even during my studies at the university, I really liked working with clay, these were educational works like bas-reliefs and copies of heads of famous sculptures. Now I would like to learn how to make real ceramics and dishes. It just fascinates me to watch the work on the potter's wheel. It would be great to master this technique and deal with glazing and firing.

Who or what inspires you most?

My parents instilled in me a great love for the plant world. My mother is a biologist by education, and now she and my father are engaged in the cultivation of flowers and fruit trees. I always get a huge portion of inspiration when I come to visit them, walk in the greenhouse and my mother enthusiastically tells me about her wards. It is especially impressive when, amid the frosty Siberian winter, I find myself in a real blooming garden. Perhaps this greatly influenced my work, botanical watercolors are my love!

Sunset light in a mountain village
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

Most of the time, I have no difficulty getting started, as I enjoy painting, priming canvases and packing. Although sometimes I feel a great desire to draw, but all the ideas seem somehow inappropriate. And then I spend a lot of time looking for a new inspirational idea.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I have identified for myself several main areas of life, which I always pay attention to. Art is one of those things so I have a dedicated time for painting almost every day.

Apple branch
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I have several ways. Sometimes I am so impressed by nature, moments from life, plants, color combinations that they do not leave my head until they are expressed on canvas or paper. Also, my mother sends me a lot of beautiful photos of her plants. Often I have a desire to make something specific and I look for suitable references on the Internet.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

Probably, due to the fact that I have been painting on a regular basis recently, I have not yet had time to burn out. This activity inspires me. Of course, I take breaks from time to time, I leave for nature or the countryside to see my parents. This allows me to miss painting and return to it with renewed vigor.

Rose hip watercolor
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

Now I am perfecting the composition and coloring of my paintings. Working with color fascinates me so much, I look for harmonious combinations and begin to see them where I have not noticed before. I am surprised to find that even a gray cloudy day begins to play with new colors, and I am becoming fans of those artists whose work I could not understand before. It's so wonderful to look at old things and see something new.

What makes you happiest about your art?

My art gives me peace and confidence. I really missed it before. I constantly doubted whether I was on the right path before I returned to painting. Now I feel that I am doing what I really like and that makes me happy.

Floral painting Original art Boho Flowers artwork
(click to view)

Thanks, Ekaterina!

© 2021 Sophie Marine