Segullah: What are your sources of inspiration?

Katrina: Real life moments. In my cake series: one cake depicts the bundt a dear friend brought when we were drowning with twin babies, and another represents the cheesecake I craved incessantly while pregnant with these sweet boys. Some paintings are meant as learning experiences like the cake and flowers that tell of a mother who suggested her son bring his wife flowers instead of giving up on their marriage. My latest series of abstract mountains are a reminder of the constant strength and peace I feel surrounded by the majestic Wasatch Mountains.

Segullah: What do you want others to take or feel from your work?

Katrina: Life was meant to be difficult and messy at times. My work are like sweet treats, begging us to remember sweet times of the past and welcome those in our future. There is enough harsh reality that we endure each day. These pieces are meant to help us savor the good in life: to celebrate the small moments of happiness, peace, or joy. If they can remind, or lift someone having a hard day (or a hard year, lol!), they have made their mark.

Segullah: How do you feel that your testimony is reflected in your work?

Katrina: Like so many, I endured some pretty tough stuff as a small child. In the dark, lonely, and difficult times, I could not deny the Savior’s ever-presence. I learned to rely on my Heavenly Father and to listen as He helped me understand the seemingly great trials I was experiencing. He taught me the value of record keeping, and the responsibility that comes with many of the events in our lives. Perhaps it is to share beauty: causing it to multiply; or to give comfort and empathy, encouraging others to overcome. It is good to endure, but even greater to be there to help lift others through similar trials. These truths, provide the energy and drive to my painting.

Segullah: How do you find time and space to create art?

Katrina: Just like all you lovely ladies, I have to make time for my passion. Presently, I consider myself a “dream painter”: painting as my babies sleep. Just as our family had to work together to keep small babies alive those first important months (and still do!) we are learning that everything we care about, whether it is work, play or learning, takes a great deal of cooperation and consideration for each other. We’re constantly trying to develop these attributes. These are vital for our happiness at home as well as my painting success. In the afternoon, my older children work independently on projects so that I can paint and the babies nap. After they all go to sleep I may have an hour or so to create, and often, my husband will come home from work and let me paint until I finally give in to dreamland. Trying to plan for everything, we designed our home with an art studio adjacent to our bedroom. A week after we moved in, we were overjoyed to discovered I was pregnant (following a long bout of secondary infertility). When we found out they were twin boys, we knew the studio would be the twins’ domain for a time. We had also designed space in the kitchen for a large dining table (10 x 4’) where we could eat, create and study together. Thank goodness it is big enough for me to have a small corner as my current studio. It may not be the clean and crisp room we’d all prefer, but it is the best of our choices at present.

Segullah: What do you find empowering about being an artist?

Katrina: More than anything I love the freedom that comes with creating something new…especially when it looks so different than the real thing. Whether it is the small details or the simplicity of a cheery color that brightens the room, it is the freedom to create whatever is within my soul that brings me the most joy.

Segullah: How do you encourage creativity in others?

Katrina: I’ve always felt very strongly about two things: 1. We as women need each other, and 2. We were meant to create. Long before instagram, I wrote a blog post about how creativity is a choice and 16 ways that we create as women each day. Within the 16 were creating friendship, joy, laughter, beauty, faith, love and miracles. There are so many more: we can create a house of order, a house of knowledge, a place of peace… Segullah has always welcomed and encouraged the divine beauty and constant growth of women. May we continue to develop new ways to create, reminding ourselves and the beautiful women in our lives that being creative is not just a gift (or a talent)…but it is in fact a choice!