1) What would you like to share about yourself in relation to your artistic aspirations?

Every time i finish a new piece of artwork
I’m reminded how much I love art and why I love to create art.
I started drawing from a very young age and art was something that
I never got bored doing it was always a part of me.
It’s an incredible feeling looking at something I created with my own hands.
I get inspired by many different things in life and many different
Talented artists whose names would be too many for me to list.
I hope my art can evoke the same aspirations in people my favorite
Artists have evoked in me

2) Are you influenced by any particular style of art?
Yes many styles, fantasy art, realism art, art nouveau art,
Classic art,all kinds of styles
Artworks worked in pencil has always remained my favorite

3) Do you have any habits or rituals to get you in the creating groove?
Not really, only thing i prefer sometimes is quiet time that helps me to concentrate
A bit more and get more creative.

4) Is your art inspired by the music you listen to? If so, how?
Many times my art does get inspired by music
, i love all kind of type of music
classical,pop,rock,even metal If i had to choose one type of music
or artist that has inspired or even given me ideas for my art would be
Sarah Brightman every time i listen to her music/songs i actually get
Visions in my head I feel I need to sketch out.

5) What artistic goals do you hope to achieve over the next five years?
Hopefully be doing my art full time,
be healthy and happy in my life, one dream i have is
To have my art hanging in a gallery one day

6) List some of your artistic accomplishments and which ones mean the most to you.

It’s been only a year for me since i started showing off my art in online galleries and
by most standards considered a “newbie” in the art field but
i have been blessed with many wonderful opportunities that have come my way,
since then i have received many spotlights like this one right now being interviewed for
for the FAE forum 2 of my artworks have been published in a fantasy art book coming out with new upcoming fantasy artists entitled Imagine 2005- have received deviations picks at deviantart,had my work printed in artwanted calendar,
entered numerous art contests up until now i placed 3rd and 2nd and finally i came into 1st place at the epilogue.net Halloween contest i was pretty happy and excited about that, it was a wonderful surprise done personal commissions for clients… all those things i mentioned above are all great and wonderful but the ones that mean the most to me are all the wonderful people, art buddies and non-art buddies i have met who left me a word of support who have befriended me, who told me something i created inspired them moved them or made them smile or even liked enough what i do to even nominate me or suggest my work for me to receive such honors
That means the most to me

7) What is your favorite subject to draw/paint?Why?
I started out drawing portraits because I love capturing people’s expressions and emotions on paper
I also love drawing religious figures it brings calmness in my life, i get to live my
dreams through my fantasy art but no matter what subject i chose to either be
fantasy or not
drawings faces and capturing a smile, a tear or a look in a portrait has always remained
My favorite

Pretend you can choose any artist to do a portrait of you. Who would you choose and why?

I would choose William Godward because he loved painting Greek Beauties and being that I’m Greek I would hope he would made me look as pretty and lovely as one of his paintings but I would feel honored if anyone ever decided to draw/paint me no matter who it was

9) What is the most challenging thing for you to overcome artistically?
The Most challenging for me would be to overcome my paint and brushes..lol..
i struggle with them I don’t always see eye to eye with paint and brushes,
we have a love/hate relationship..lol
painting is something that i would love to overcome.

10) What do you consider to be one of your strongest points relating to your art?
My strongest points would be my ability to capture my subjects
Emotions on paper and shade, I literally spend 16+ hours on a portrait.

11) Share one of your favorite art tips or techniques with us.
I love to BLEND, for those who struggle with graphite and often ask me
how do you get your shading so smooth? the #1 top secret is blending
and i blend with different tools from tissue paper, make-up sponges,
professional stumps/tortillions and even paint brushes
(clean ones of course )

12) Do you have any advice for aspiring artists?

Yes, GO after your DREAMS keep practicing and drawing,
and NEVER give up no matter
what people tell you, sometimes people for different reasons
may try to put you down or hurt you, don’t
let them as hurtful it may be
, Believe in yourself in what you do and keep doing
What you love.

13) You have an afternoon all to yourself to do whatever you want. What are you most likely to do?
Sketch and Draw and look/read through my favorite art books,browse art online:)

Name: Katerina Koukiotis
Website: http://www.katerinaart.com/

email: katerinaart AT aol.com
DeviantArt: http://kartk.deviantart.com/
Elfwood: http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/loth/k/a/katia/

ArtWanted: http://www.ArtWanted.com/Katerina
Epilogue: http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=12436

ArtIndustrit: http://www.artistportfolio.net/index.php?secret=140&artist_id=5168

1) Tell me a little about yourself.

I am 31 years old, and I am married to the love of my
life, Greg. I also have 3 beautiful girls: Jenniqua,
age 7; Elycia, age 6; and Camaira, age 2. I live in a
small town in Iowa and do daycare for a “day job”. I
was born in South Korea and was adopted at 4 months of
age, and have been in the same town ever since.
I enjoy drawing and painting, of course! I love to
read. My favorite authors are Danielle Steel and V.C.
Andrews. I love to cross stitch and bead. I love to
do crosswords and other word puzzles. And I get bored
way to easily…LOL. I also love to go shopping. I
love clothes and jewelry and shoes and…yeah, I like
to shop.

2) How long have you been drawing/painting?

As cliché as it sounds, I’ve been drawing for as long
as I can remember. I always doodled in school. I
loved to try to draw Sunday Comics characters, and I
drew a lot of “portraits” of people in my head. I
also went through an abstract/non-objective period. I
moved on to drawing faeries about 2 years ago. I got
so caught up in Amy Brown’s work, that I wanted to
create faeries too. Plus I’ve always found them to be
enchanting.

I started painting almost a year ago. I got my first
set of paints from a friend and I never looked back.
Before, I was always scared to ruin my drawings, and
now I wonder why I didn’t start painting sooner.
Since then I bought a set of Yarka Professional Pans
and now have all of their colors. I love them!!

3) What inspires you to create art?
So many things inspire me. Looking at all the
wonderful art created by my idols, mentors and friends. Hearing a song on the radio. The images a
certain nursery rhyme invokes. Feelings. My kids. A
pose in a magazine. EVERYTHING!!!

4) If you ever experience artistic block, what do you
do to get past it so that you can create again?
Sometimes I just let it ride itself out. I’m never
blocked for more than a month. If I think I HAVE to
do something, I’ll just browse the ‘net looking at
gorgeous fantasy art by everyone, or I may look at the
books I’ve collected by my favorite fantasy artists.
I also find talking to my online friends helps.

5) What is the one art supply you just can’t live
without?

My eraser!! I sketch so sloppily, that my eraser is
a must to clean up my line arts!! I sketch directly on
my watercolor paper, so I NEED my eraser to prep my
art for painting after I ink a piece.

6) What’s at the top of your art-related wish list
right now?

I really, really want a Mustek A3
scanner. But I also want a Xyron 900, an Epson r1800
printer, a bunch of art books and calendars, and
someday… prints by all of my favorite artists and
friends.

7) What artistic goals do you hope to accomplish for
yourself over the next year?
I hope to be able to at least send my art to, if not
attend, some fantasy art conventions. I want to offer
more merchandise with my art on it, such as bookmarks,
stickers, magnets, cards, etc. I would also like to
get a regular web site with my own domain name. I’d
like to be published in more magazine and books too.
And of course, I want to keep on improving!!

What goals or accomplishments have you already
achieved?
Selling art was something that was unexpected. I
really didn’t think it would happen. I’ve been
published in 3 issues of Elves of Camelot magazine.
I’ve also been published in the Enchanted Artists;
Visions of Atlantis book published by Ellen Million
Graphics with some of my idols and friends. I’ve even
won a couple of awards on my art. And I’ve made so
many artistic friends online, some of them being the
very artists I admire!!

9) What artists do you admire and why?
My #1 favorite artist is Amy Brown. She’s the one who
got me hooked on faerie art. She’s done so much art,
and never seems to go uninspired. I also enjoy the
artwork of Nene Thomas. Her artwork is so very
detailed!! She’s also a very sweet person. I’ve
never had the chance to meet her in person, but I’ve
chatted with her online and just adore her. Jessica
Galbreth, definitely. She started the Enchanted
Artists’ forum, and without that, I would probably
never have tried to pursue my art career to the extent
that I have. And she’s a wonderful artist, to boot.
Others I admire are Jasmine Becket-Griffith, Linda
Bergkvist, Meredith Dillman, Selina Fenech, Delphine
Levesque Demers, etc. I’ve had the pleasure of
chatting with them all via the ‘net and love their
different styles and their collective talents.

10) What makes your art special and unique?

I don’t
know, though I’ve been told that I have my own style.
My colors are usually bold, and I don’t use
watercolors in the traditional, transparent, layering
way. My faeries are almost always very human-like
with pointy ears and wings added. I love to throw in
stripey stockings and arm warmers along with piercings
and tattoos!!

11) Do you have a favorite tip or technique you’d
like to share?
I use salt washes a lot. I’ve used table salt a lot
in the past and have recently begun experimenting with
sea salt. I would also like to try rock salt and
other variations. I love the star burst patterns and
textures that salt washes create. And you can only
control it so much, so you get a surprise each time
you do it!!

12) Out of all of your art, which is your favorite
and why?
Faerie Fake. I thought I’d come up with a clever
idea, by making a faerie out of an elf and a
butterfly. I had a whole scenario that I had in my
head about an elf who wanted to be a faerie so bad,
that she tied a live butterfly to her back. I did
make note that she treats the butterfly well, and
takes care of him. I also thought I did a good job on
the butterfly wings and put a little more detail into
the dress.

13) Admit to one of your guilty pleasures!

I surf
the net way too much. Greg accuses me of being on the
computer constantly. I love to forum and read my
friends’ Live Journals and browse all the beautiful art
online. If I could permanently graft a computer to my
body, I’d probably do it…lol.

Name: Dawn Obrecht
Website: Flowerchild Fantasy Art
email: reincarnatedflowerchild AT yahoo.com
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/jenelycam/

DeviantArt: http://jenely.deviantart.com/
Elfwood: http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/j/e/jenely/jenely.html
ArtWanted: http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=17715
Dream-Grafix: http://www.dream-grafix.com/artwork/frmArtistDetails.aspx?nickname=Jenelycam

SheezyArt: http://jenelycam.sheezyart.com/
ebay ID: flowerchildartist