(Kuntseva Nadin)

An Array of Amazing Animals

by Pam North

Creating one’s own world of animals is a magical mission. Kuntseva Nadin does precisely that in her own imaginative style, and her life is filled with lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!), not to mention hares, hedgehogs, pigs, elephants, lemurs, foxes, rabbits, cheetahs, dogs, cats, birds, mice, and assorted other creatures.
Kuntseva Nadin was born in Ukraine in the small town of Pershotravensk, Dnipropetrovsk region.  Her parents worked in a coal mine, and never were interested in art, but from childhood Nadin loved to draw or sew clothes for her dolls. She was sent to a music school by her mother, but she was more interested in other artistic pursuits, preferring to sculpt or paint something, or sew. She always has found deep satisfaction in creating with her own hands. 
After graduating from high school, she went to Dnipro to study at the Dnipropetrovsk State University,  pursuing educational studies toward becoming an economist. While she became an economist by education, it was not to her liking. She started working for a travel company instead, discovering that she really enjoyed traveling and visiting cities with museums and unusual architecture. She worked in tourism for several years.
Fifteen years ago she moved to the capital city, Kiev, with her husband, Dmitry, and their much-loved 12-year-old toy poodle, Basya. “My husband is my very first fan and critic who always supports and helps me,” Nadin commented.
At an exhibition she saw felted wool toys that she liked and thought she could make herself. She wanted to work at home, so, despite having no formal training in her newly-found craft, she began making her creations about five years ago. People liked them,  so she began to participate in exhibitions in Kiev.
Her first works were made of wool, and were smaller, more simple figures of animals. She continued to experiment with various techniques of combining sewing and felting, and larger bears began to appear in her offerings. She has evolved over time. Her animals have become more realistic, but her love for cartoon characters finds its way into her characters as well, and that bit of caricature gives them more personality.  “I always try to improve my work,” she explained. “I am very demanding of myself, and I feel I still have more to learn to become even better.”
Nadin incorporates dry wool felting with quality faux fur, and leather. “I do different things, following what my soul asks,” she said. She uses no ready-made patterns, only her own, so each animal is individual. Using a skeleton for mobility, she builds the body by wool felting, and then she makes a pattern for it and sews the faux fur. She also makes the glass eyes, and the polyform clay noses, claws, jaws, teeth, and tongues herself.  One of her most difficult challenges is modeling the jaw for an animal so that it is anatomically correct. On some animals, the mouth opens and closes.
Offsetting the harder tasks are the moments of satisfaction, when her final artful touches of shading and tinting bring out all the nuances she wished to portray in that character, and she is satisfied with the results of all her labor.
Each of her products is unique. She doesn’t make copies of previous pieces, but at the request of a client she can design something similar in characteristics. “I appreciate collectors’ interest in my craft because it inspires me and gives me determination to be more creative for them.”
Nadin finds her inspiration in museums and exhibitions, while watching cartoons, and from ideas that come to her in her dreams. She is fortunate to have a separate room in her apartment for her work area, giving her her own space to create and also to store all her materials and art supplies. She sells her products mostly on the Internet, and additionally at some shops. “I used to go to exhibitions, but the pandemic has curtailed many of those,” she commented. She participated in a small exhibition in Barcelona in 2018, and took 2nd place there. Her further plans to participate in international exhibitions have not been possible due to COVID, but she hopes everything will improve so that she will be able to attend two exhibitions in Prague later this year.
The future of artist-made collectibles appears bright to her. “There seems to be no fewer collectors, and they are more consciously shopping for their collections.” Her artistic and imaginative use of  high-quality materials, fabrics, and accessories in her animal creations have won the hearts of the many collectors who purchase her creations. In order to make them happy she feels that she not only invests all her skills and talent into each of her animals, but also a piece of her soul and the warmth of her heart, and perhaps that’s part of the reason that her adorable creatures are so sought after, finding their new homes worldwide.
Her endeavor is less a job to her and more a happy pastime. “I will continue to develop and make my animals better and better. I also have several dolls that I molded from polymer clay, and more of those are in my future plans, but so far I really love making animals. There are two more bears in the works, and soon there will be dragons. There just is not enough time in the day for all my plans!”
“I really love what I do,” she continued. “It’s my dream to create works that bring positive emotions to people, and will delight them for many years. My creations are scattered all over the globe, in the homes of collectors with loving hearts.”

Contact Information:
Name: Kuntseva Nadin
Address: Kiev, Ukraine
Email: nadin.kuntseva@gmail.com
Websites: https://www.bearpile.com/kuntseva
https://kuntseva.tedsby.com/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/NadinArtDolls?ref=profile he
Instagram: kuntsevanadin