Natalia Outkina, Canada

Natalia Outkina came from a family with a strong artistic background in classical Fine Art. She was born in Kishinev, Moldova, and later moved to St. Petersburg which regained its original name in 1991, after the demise of the Soviet Union.  She received her art education at the University of Architecture (Kishinev, Moldova) and continued studying art on a part-time basis at the Mukhina Academy of Arts (St. Petersburg, Russia).

Natalia moved to Toronto in 1999 where she is a registered member of several art groups in the city. She likes painting historical buildings in Etobicoke and Toronto, and by doing this, wants to preserve the history of a place and see her paintings serve as a link to the roots of the community and the people. Besides working on new watercolor paintings, she is passionate about teaching the art of producing such paintings. In her Toronto art studio, she offers lessons for all grade-level students who are seeking to improve, practice, and explore watercolor techniques as well as sketching.

Her artwork is about connecting with people’s emotions. Her paintings are often personal and at the same time, universal. Her life experiences left her to learn that many people block out emotion. She likes to see her paintings suddenly "speak" to them. Over many years as an arts educator, she helped people and communities find their voices and express their concerns through individual and collaborative art projects. Today she is working with artists in art spaces in other parts of the world where exchanges the ideas. Often happen that these creates artistic growth, empathy, and new understandings.

Her watercolor paintings have been recognizable worldwide and she exhibited in Japan, Italy, India, Bolivia, Indonesia, Greece, France, Mexico, and Poland. Her paintings are in many private collections all over the world, spanning worldwide like Australia, the USA, the UK, Japan, and Eastern Europe.