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Ekaterina Danilova was born in Minsk, Belarus, to live for the arts. Encouraged by her father, she learned to draw even before she could talk. She used to sit in a small room besides her parents’ to draw imaginary creatures and animals, and paint dogs and cats. Throughout her childhood she developed her craft and the style that led to her uniqueness and future success. First, she studied at the Lyceum of Fine Arts and then continued at the Belarus Academy of the Arts under the tutelage of the famous Belarusian painter Vladimir Savich.
Her works were selected for shows at the Lyceum of the Fine Arts, the Belarus Academy of Fine Arts, the Belarusian National Museum of Fine Arts, and selected national shows. Most of Katia’s best works were not allowed out of the country when she immigrated to the United States and were kept at the Art Institute’s permanent collection.
Katia, as her friends call her, came from Minsk to start a new life in the United States. In Miami she competed for and won the talent based Francis Wolfson Visual Arts Scholarship to attend the University of Florida New World School of the Arts. Her works were also shown in various venues, such as the Von Liebig Art Center in Naples, Florida, and the NWSA art gallery. She uses all forms of expressions for her art, including modeling, where she was represented by the Image agency of Miami. It seemed as her dreams became reality.
Destiny took different turn. Her husband was accepted to the University of Chicago and she had a difficult but necessary decision to make – leave her choice of the University and move to a Windy City with her spouse. The prestigious Art Institute in Chicago accepted her on the spot but the price tag was too high for their budget at the time. Disappointed but not crushed she worked two jobs, studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a full time student and painted at night. She participated in some shows in Chicago such as the Art Institute of Chicago Show at Union Station.
After her husband finished his program in the University of Chicago, they moved to Dallas where she attended the University of Texas and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Liberal Arts. She was invited to visit and attend several prestigious law schools, but going the Law route would have left little time for art, so she switched careers and worked as a teacher at a high school and she continued to paint.
After the birth of their son, Katia's new role as a mother broadened her techniques and imagination. Seeing her son grow, teaching students of various backgrounds and traveling in Europe, South and Central America she became involved in global themes creating pieces of art more about humane treatment, human rights, atrocities of war, etc.
Her inspiration is mainly brought by the themes of humanity, love, pain, friendship and family.
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