Art is a way of communicating with the world, in which every brushstroke carries a particle of the artist's soul. Today we are talking with Natallia Kraknes, whose work, inspired by the severe beauty of the North and fueled by sports discipline, finds a response in the hearts of people all over the world. Natallia shares her thoughts on the creative process, the balance between intuition and academicism, and why sincerity is more important than any algorithms.
Natallia, you have chosen modern impressionism and the Impasto technique (relief, thick brushstrokes), which gives your paintings incredible volume and dynamics. What exactly in working with a palette knife and "mixing paints directly on the canvas" allows you to express the "intent of the beautiful" and convey the "magic of colors" better than traditional smooth painting?
For me, a palette knife is not just a tool, but a way to speak the language of emotions. It allows one to work freely, boldly, and leave on the canvas the living energy of each movement. When I mix paints directly on the surface of the painting, unexpected shades and color transitions are born, which cannot be fully planned in advance. There is a special magic of creativity in this. Textured brushstrokes reflect light differently, so the painting seems to change depending on the lighting and the viewer’s point of view. I like that such a technique helps to convey not only the image, but also the mood, movement, and breath of nature. Where smooth painting strives for perfection of form, a palette knife allows one to preserve the living power of the moment and the feeling of a miracle that arises in the process of creation.
Working with a palette knife is always an element of surprise. Has it happened in your practice that the paint "led" you, creating on the canvas something you did not initially plan, but which in the end became a key accent or even the main meaning of the whole painting?
Yes, and this happens quite often. Especially in intuitive and abstract painting, where it is impossible to predict the result in advance. Sometimes one unexpected stroke or accidental mixing of colors opens up a completely new direction for the painting. It happens that such spontaneous decisions become the main accent of the work and help to reveal its meaning more deeply. Sometimes they even help in revealing one’s own author’s style! I am very captured by this process. In it, there is a feeling of discovery and a living dialogue with the canvas. That is precisely why each painting becomes a small journey for me, in which the final point is not always known in advance. I am a very spontaneous person, so everything that is new, unusual, and unexpected is very close to me!
Your first teacher was your father, who encouraged you to paint on walls, and then you underwent serious training in Norway. How do you balance between the intuitive freedom of your father's lessons and the academic thinking you received in art school to preserve your unique handwriting and not lose your individuality?
I am very grateful to my father. It was he who taught me not to fear a blank sheet, to trust my imagination, and to get joy from the very process of creativity. Thanks to him, art from very childhood was associated for me with freedom. Academic training gave me something else — an understanding of composition, color, light, professional knowledge and discipline, as well as skills for creating and embodying an idea on canvas! Today I perceive these two experiences not as opposites, but as two important parts of one whole. Academic knowledge helps me build a painting, and intuition helps to fill it with life and character. Usually, I start work with my heart, and then I connect knowledge and experience. Such a balance allows me to preserve my own voice in painting and not lose the sincerity with which everything once began — with the childish desire to draw the world the way I feel it.
In the past, you were professionally involved in volleyball, chess, and running. How do the sports hardening, discipline, and desire to win from your sports past help you in artistic creation, especially when you need to "work up to 4 hours without a break" and concentrate on the process?
Sport taught me discipline, patience, and the ability to work for a result. In painting, as in sports, talent is important, but without daily labor it is difficult to achieve serious growth. When I work on a painting for many hours in a row, even all night long, I am helped by the sports hardening, concentration, and the habit of not giving up after the first difficulties and moving on. It is important to move toward the goal with small steps, slowly, because nothing happens immediately! And without inspiration and the joy of the process — nowhere!
You mentioned that you work on paintings for hours, sometimes "all night long." Does a special time of day or ritual exist for you (music, light, silence) that helps you enter a state of "flow," when the palette knife and paint become a continuation of your thought?
Most of all, I love to paint pictures in the morning. At this time, I have many fresh forces, thoughts, and new ideas. I like the feeling of a blank sheet, when the whole day is ahead and it seems that everything is possible.
For me, silence and daylight are very important. I love to work without music, so that nothing distracts from the internal dialogue with the painting. I live in the north of Norway, where the polar night lasts about two months. During this period, the usual boundaries between day and night seem to disappear, and one can create almost around the clock. Sometimes I plunge so much into the process that I stop noticing the time. In such moments, the palette knife becomes a continuation of the hand, and the paints — a continuation of thoughts and feelings.
The move to Tromsø had an indelible influence, awakening "new emotions" and inspiration. How do the severe, mysterious beauty of northern nature, the fjords, and the mountains reflect in your modern impressionism? Do you strive to capture a landscape or convey the animate state of nature, which, in your words, "complements a person"?
Northern nature became a real source of inspiration for me. I am attracted by its severe beauty, changeable light, majestic mountains, and the feeling of endless space. In my works, I rarely strive to simply depict a landscape. It is much more important to convey its mood, atmosphere, and energy. I want to show nature as a living companion of a person, capable of calming, inspiring, and helping one to better understand oneself. To let the viewer feel that nature and a person are one whole!
You successfully participated in the Golden Time Talent competition, winning first and third places. What significance did the victory in London have for your international career, and how did this recognition influence your confidence in your talent, especially considering that you did not attach much importance to competitions before?
The victory became a pleasant surprise and an important stage of my creative path for me. Before, I did not attach much importance to competitions and did not dare to participate in them, but this experience showed that my works can find a response in people. The awards did not change my attitude toward art, but added confidence and inspired me to move forward, not being afraid of new challenges and trials!
Your works depicting trolls and motifs of Tromsø are exhibited in the Troll Museum and used for souvenirs. What does it mean for you to be an artist whose work has become part of the cultural landscape of Northern Norway and entered museum expositions?
For me, this is a great joy, honor, and simultaneously a responsibility. Northern Norway became my home and a source of inspiration, so it is especially pleasant to see that my works help to tell stories of this extraordinarily fabulous in its beauty region. When paintings become part of museum expositions or souvenir production, a feeling arises that art continues to live and gladden, to find new viewers.
One of the most amazing stories happened thanks to a postcard with a reproduction of my painting. Several tourist shops in Tromsø sell postcards with my Arctic subjects, and one day a woman, having bought such a postcard, decided to find the author. She carefully examined the signature on the postcard, found me through social networks, and wrote to me! She was touched by my art, and it was interesting to her to learn the title of the painting, the history of its creation, and my full name. It touched and inspired me very much that an ordinary postcard caused such sincere interest! Our communication continued, and after some time she purchased an original painting from me as well. This story reminded me that art is capable of overcoming any distances. Sometimes one small postcard can become the beginning of an acquaintance that grows into a real connection between the artist and the viewer. And you never know who it will find and inspire on the other end of the world!
You have been in the Global Talent Confederation project for more than a year. How did participation in this international network contribute to your professional growth?
This project gave me the opportunity to become part of an international creative community and the fulfillment of my dream!
During the time of participation, I met many talented and wonderful artists, received new knowledge and inspiration. New exhibitions, publications, and interesting creative contacts appeared. This helped me to feel like a part of a large world artistic space and to approach my goal a little bit closer!
You announced ambitious plans: to enroll in a one-year course in Florence to master portraiture and to study such styles as Miserablism, Pop Art, and Abstractionism. What compels you to go beyond impressionism, and what do you hope to find in detailing and other, seemingly opposite styles?
It is always interesting to me to learn and discover new facets of art, to experiment! Impressionism is close to me with its emotionality and freedom, but I am sure that development begins where the habitual ends and you strive for something new and unexplored! By studying portraiture, abstraction, pop art, or other directions, I hope to better understand the possibilities of the artistic language and enrich my own style with new ideas and techniques.
In your works, "a particle of the soul lives." Are there any among them that you found the most difficult to part with?
First of all, I would say a huge thank you to him. It was my father who first saw in me a love for creativity, encouraged my experiments, and never limited my imagination. He allowed me to paint on walls and believed in my abilities even when I myself did not understand where this path would lead me. If I could give him advice today, I would say: “Don’t give up and definitely go toward your dream.” Drawing and photography were his great passion, but due to life circumstances and financial difficulties, he could not make them his main business. I would like him to know: talent and dream deserve to be fought for. And also I would ask him: “Did you really believe back then that all this would lead me so far?” I think his belief in me became one of the most valuable gifts in my life!
You strive for nature and man to become "one whole." In an era of rapid development of technologies and artificial intelligence, what, in your opinion, is the main task of a modern artist? What will remain that "irreplaceable human spark" that no algorithm can convey?
It seems to me that the more technologies there are in the world, the more valuable real human presence in art becomes. Artificial intelligence can create beautiful images, but it has not lived the life of an artist, has not felt delight, pain, love, loneliness, or inspiration. A painting is not only an image, it is the energy of a person, their experience, and view of the world. The task of an artist today is to remind people about the beauty and importance of living feelings, about the connection with nature and oneself. Precisely this sincerity, this human spark, makes art unique. It is impossible to program it, because it is born from a lived life and a personal, in its own way unique, history of each artist.
