Tatyana Grechina
Tatyana Grechina (aka Taty) is a painter, writer, and creative entrepreneur based in Longmont, Colorado. Taty fell in love with oil paint at age nine and creates figurative, landscape, and abstract works using a range of processes—from collaborative photoshoots and collage to automatic selection and chance. Her paintings evoke a sense of nostalgia, emotion, and self-analysis, exploring girlhood, what it means to be a woman, and the pain of evolution, as she plays with external spaces and internal worlds.
Taty graduated from the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and earned her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. During her undergrad years, Taty began creating personalized, hand-felted costumes as “spiritwear” to photograph her friends in. Inspired by Cirque du Soleil’s concept that costumes reveal rather than conceal, Taty’s practice of using wardrobe to create characters has evolved over time into a larger production—including set design, a photographer, and multiple models—to build the scenes she paints.
Taty's dream is to build a world that not only sustains itself and future generations with regenerative creativity but also brings as many people as possible into the process. Currently, Taty is working to launch a Kickstarter for her first tarot deck—an interactive art book-style deck of photographs and collages created in collaboration with Alex Black through their business, Camp Sublime.
Contact
www.tatyfairy.com
www.campsublime.com
tatyfairyart@gmail.com
@tatyfairy
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
My passion for play and seeing all of life as art inspires me to never stop making. Anything can become something, and we can always shift our perspective—like flipping a painting upside down or cutting it into pieces. The seeing part is so magical, but we have to hone it. When I need a reset, I return to the sketchbook and draw a still life but make it talk back to me.
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
I have always loved bringing people into art, whether it’s collaborative through photoshoots and productions or individually with my painting students. During these social seasons, my paintings become figural—all people I know. The paintings immortalize those humans in my community in a way that only paint can—the great equalizer that shows us how iconic and timeless life is. When I need a shift inwards and retreat, my paintings become landscape or pastoral scenes that let my brain reset.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?
Recently, the birth of my son has completely transformed my creative practice. Having less time has forced me to get really clear on what I want out of life—and how to use that time effectively. Less fuss, more flow. Even without a baby, time restriction is a great way to play with priorities. I’ve always enjoyed a timed painting or drawing just to get out of my thinking mind and into the movement, action, or body mind.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?
I believe that everything is always flowing to me all the time. When I first moved to Colorado and would go on runs, I kept hearing this mantra—'Be like a bee to honey. Everything you want is coming.' It’s true, but you have to show up. Also, I listen to the bees—they always let me know when magical things are brewing. When I open my spirit up with playful curiosity, I tap into a powerful, abundant flow that my thinking brain can’t always access.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I want people to see themselves as art and in art. I want them to see the magic and play in everything, but most importantly in themselves. My wish is to spread a continual ray of sunlight that coats everything in its path in golden honey.
