The Magical, Garden-Inspired Creations of Natalia Zhivova: An Interview with the Artist
Here on The Renaissance Garden Guy, I discuss the magical, garden-inspired creations of Natalia Zhivova in an interview with the artist herself. You’ll want to stick around for this one; I can guarantee that this glimpse into the artist’s creative process, her enchanting garden, and the wondrous world of Cuteeli will be unforgettable.
By John G. Stamos
Today’s article marks a couple of firsts here on The Renaissance Garden Guy. This is the very first entry under “The Fine and Decorative Arts” category, and it’s the site’s very first interview. I’m really excited about these two RGG firsts, but I’m even more excited about my premiere interviewee.
Natalia Zhivova is the artist and driving force behind Cuteeli, a brand of wondrously designed and meticulously handmade textile creations (some examples of her work appear above in collage form as this article’s featured image). Ms. Zhivova has been designing and creating these whimsical, garden-and-nature-inspired works since 2017, and has gained an extensive international base of customers and collectors of her work in the process. She’s also cultivated an international base of followers across several social media platforms since launching her line.
The magical creations of Natalia Zhivova, and the artist herself, have indeed achieved global renown.
The artist’s home, which doubles as her studio, is in Southampton, Hampshire, England. There, she works her creative magic, drawing inspiration from the beauty of her stunning garden, and the English countryside at large. And it’s from this idyllic locale that Natalia Zhivova sat down to talk with me (via instant messaging) about her art, and what moves her to create.
JS: I can’t help but notice that your lovely creations look completely happy and at home amidst the natural beauty of your garden. How does your garden, and nature in general, influence your creative process?
NZ: I love nature and animals. These are two inseparable and beautiful parts of our planet. Therefore, creating my heroes, I already subconsciously put my love and positive energy of nature into them!
My design studio is right next to my garden, from where I can see flowers and tree branches swaying in the wind, bumblebees choosing their delicious spot on the flower. All this natural beauty has a beneficial effect on my creativity, naturally.
The South of England, and Southampton in particular, has beautiful natural sites and parks where you can walk in serenity and enjoy the beauty of nature.
My creations love to walk with me and pose for me for photo shoots in beautiful natural places. It inspires me a lot and has a positive effect on my well-being and creativity in general.
Nature is the best artist, designer, healer and inspiration for me, and for many people, I think!
JS: What is the primary inspiration behind your adorable creations? And can you give me an idea of your subject matter? In other words, what types of items do you create?
NZ: My main source of inspiration is the desire to make something beautiful, cute and unique to create a cozy and pleasant atmosphere. Since I love to give gifts to family, friends and just good people, this positive attitude inspires me to create new pleasant and positive things. These can be various animals (mostly), fairytale creatures, crocheted pillowcases for cushions and other textile items that delight the eyes and soul, and are pleasant to give to your loved ones.
The bright colours of nature and its positive energy are always present in the creation of my handicrafts.
JS: In the past, you’ve mentioned that you associate many of your creations with certain fairy tales. Which fairy tale is your favorite, and why?
NZ: My grandmother used to read me many fairy tales in my early childhood. Since then, I have loved all fairy tales. One of my favorite fairy tales is called The Swineherd by Hans Christian Andersen.
This is a beautiful and instructive story about a prince who loved nature and the natural values of life, and about a princess who loved artificial things and had purely material values. Their love was not destined to come true.
I just love such cute fairy tales connected with ancient times, in which beauty and wisdom are so gracefully intertwined.
But in fact, I have a lot of favorite fairy tales, by such writers as Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, and many others.
JS: Each of your creations has a very distinctive character and appearance. How did you develop your unique creative style?
NZ: I think I was lucky to have a good imagination and the ability to beautifully combine different things. This is very important for a designer, of course. My first toys were very primitive, though cute. Gradually, I gained experience and courage to do something more difficult. As a result, I came up with my unique style – cute stuffed textile animals with soulful, kind faces and charming costumes that make them look like people. All my characters must have names, because they always turn out to be like people.
JS: Your toys – these fabulous creations – are beautifully crafted and incredibly well made. Can you talk a bit about your process for making them, and the materials you like to use?
NZ: Thanks for your kind words!
First of all, the idea of the image of my hero arises, of course.
Then I start drawing on paper a pattern of my creation and think about the materials from which I want to make my toy. Next, I transfer the paper details of the pattern to fabrics and cut out the fabric bases of the body of my hero. Then I sew the appropriate parts together (purely by hand – with a needle and thread or on a sewing machine).
Then comes the process of stuffing individual parts of the body of my hero, for this I use a soft and light craft polyester filler. Then I sew together my stuffed blanks, connecting them into one design. Next comes the process of creating the image of my hero – face, hair (if necessary), clothes. And in the end – my sweet and kind fairy-tale hero gains life and a name!
I use high-quality materials and fabrics made in England, mostly natural fabrics or soft, delicate fleece.
JS: Every single one of these little creatures is just so incredibly whimsical and magical. I can easily imagine all of them starring in their very own fairy tale. Have you ever considered writing a story with your creations as the main characters?
NZ: Of course, I thought and think about it now! Thank you for this question!
First of all, many of my heroes have their own little fairy tale stories that I wrote for them and continue to write for new heroes, respectively. Now I post these stories in a separate blog on my website.
I am also writing one big and sweet story about the adventures of many of my heroes in the fairy-tale world of Cuteeli. Over 40 chapters have already been written. I hope this will turn out to be an interesting and very positive story for children and adults!
JS: Your book sounds fascinating – I personally can’t wait to read it. I’m sure it’s a story which readers of all ages will love. Do you have a particular type of collector or customer in mind for your non-literary creations? In other words, do you design these creations with a particular market in mind?
NZ: In fact, my handmade creations are also designed to give joy and positivity to people of all ages. These are interior soft toys and other handicrafts that perfectly decorate any interior in the house. And I also created and continue to create a collection of soft toys for babies – these are small and cute animals made of natural fabrics that a baby can hold in his hands. These animals can also be hung above the baby’s bed or on the wall on a special crochet construction.
So all my creations are designed to create a fairytale and cozy atmosphere for all people and all ages!
JS: How can customers and collectors purchase your work?
NZ: I have my own website where you can buy my handicrafts:
I want to clarify that all my creations are beautifully packaged and free shipping is available worldwide.
I blog on Twitter where I present my creations in beautiful photos in harmony with nature, and also show people the beauty of nature and the sights of the UK, including my small and cute garden:
I also have a page on Instagram and Facebook:
JS: Tell me a bit about your garden. How long have you been gardening, and which plants and flowers are your favorites?
NZ: I have been gardening for about 6 years.
In fact, I have been familiar with gardening since I was a child, as my parents have a garden for a very long time. But I started to really enjoy gardening about 6 years ago, when I had the opportunity to tend my own garden and at a fairly conscious age, which also gives a special pleasure to gardening (ha ha, I think many will agree with me).
I love to grow petunias, dahlias, begonias, fuchsias, geraniums, sunflowers, lupins, carnations, poppies, all kinds of wildflowers and of course spring flowers – tulips, daffodils, anemones, crocuses, irises, phlox, hazel grouse and others.
My favourite flowers for gardening are petunias, dahlias, double begonias and geraniums. These are amazing and very grateful flowers. They do not require special care and continue to delight me with their flowering, from early summer until January. Geranium, for example, blooms even now, in February, which makes me very happy and surprised. I want to clarify that I collect petunia and dahlia seeds in my garden in autumn and winter, and then plant them in good soil for the next life, and it works great! It’s so exciting to watch these flowers grow! And I never know what colour these creatures of nature will grow, which makes it especially interesting!
JS: I know that you love traveling throughout the UK. Tell me about your three absolute favorite places to visit there, and why those particular spots stand out.
NZ: I love the Isle of Wight and always visit it whenever possible.
It is a charming, quiet and pleasant place for rest and relaxation, rich in its local sights and beauty of nature. The beauty of the seascapes, the Ventnor Botanical Garden, charming private gardens and historic sites such as Osborne House make this island truly beautiful!
I also really like the ancient city of Winchester, the first capital of England in the past. From the stunning cathedral, where organ concerts and flower festivals are held, to the shopping streets, it is charming.
And of course, I like Southampton, the city where I live. It is rich in history (a nice Titanic museum and a free art gallery), as well as many beautiful natural places where you can enjoy walking. In particular, this is the magnificent and huge New Forest nature reserve, where wild ponies, deer and many other animals live freely, which you can meet on your way, not to mention the beauty of the surrounding nature and vegetation.
JS: Your photography of not only your creations, but also of your garden and so many other locations throughout the UK, is remarkable. Do you have professional training?
NZ: Thank you for your super positive evaluation of my photos and my work in general, John!
My professional background in photography is solely based on my love of nature and my ability to see beauty in many things from the right angle, so to speak. My desire to convey the beauty of nature and things from the best angle, as well as the experience of photography (probably about 10 years) using a phone with good optics (not an iPhone, oddly enough) allow me to take beautiful and high-quality photos now. Everything comes with experience and with the desire to make something really beautiful!
JS: What are your plans for the ultimate fulfillment of your seemingly boundless creative potential?
NZ: I can’t speak about ultimate plans, it sounds a bit restrictive to me. I can talk about my plans and dreams for the future in my work.
Firstly, I plan to finish a fairytale story about the adventures of my heroes in the world of Cuteeli. It would be great to create booklets or books with this story.
Next in my plans is the possible animation of my characters in the form of a cute cartoon or some nice video.
Once in England, I saw an old toy museum at an exhibition, it scared me a little, to be honest. There were old teddy bears and other stuffed animals in a not-so-pretty way. And I thought, it would be great to create my own toy museum, which would have colorful, beautiful and positive toys of different styles. Children and adults could look at them and learn interesting stories about the creation and adventures of these fairy tale characters! These are my dreams and plans.
And of course, I do not stop creating new characters of my fairy-tale world Cuteeli.
Thank you very much for your interest in my art, John.
I really hope that this interview will be interesting to your readers and subscribers!
I wish you all success in all your endeavors, as well as a positive mood always and everywhere!
The Work of Natalia Zhivova and the World of Cuteeli
Natalia Zhivova is not only a creative dynamo with a matchless work ethic, she’s also a charming and eloquent interviewee. I gained enormous insight into her work, her creative philosophy, her passions and influences, and her overall gestalt by sitting down with her to have this most interesting and delightful conversation. I was fascinated with her and her work before this interview, and I’m more fascinated – and hopelessly enchanted – now. And I obviously hope the conversation proved to be of interest to you. After all, you, my readers and subscribers, are the reason I do any of this.
As interesting as this discussion with the artist has been, it’s the result of her creative impetus that remains the optical – and tactile – showstopper. Her oeuvre is incredible – beautiful, deep, and varied – a feast for the senses, and a joy to the heart. You’ve heard all about the how’s and why’s from the artist herself. Now check out some of her work. It requires no embellishment from me, whatsoever.
Here you go: some examples of the work of Natalia Zhivova, as beautifully photographed by the artist herself.
More of the magical creations of Natalia Zhivova: Pictured below are some of the artist’s pillow covers (and some of her little creatures enjoying them) and some selections from her babies collection. Again, all photos are courtesy of Natalia Zhivova.
Below is a photo I took of Olly and Molly in my home. I ordered these incredible little animals directly from Ms. Zhivova’s website, cuteeli.com. They were simple to order, lovingly and beautifully hand-packaged by the artist herself, and arrived in absolutely perfect order and condition. I can tell you, with no reservation whatsoever, that these little deer are true works of fine art. They are beautifully handmade, and are of the absolute finest quality. And I swear to you, both of these enchanting creatures came to my home imbued with life, with sentience, which could have only arisen as a result of the obvious love and care that the artist incorporated into them during their creation. She imagined them, and then she created them. They are creatures of her heart and of her creative soul. Again, this truly is fine art. Fine art which can be held and hugged. And loved. I’ll treasure them forever.
Pictured below are some photos of one of Natalia Zhivova’s primary fonts of inspiration: her tranquilly verdant and colorful garden. The influence of this ethereal beauty on her work is clearly evident. The photos, as provided by the artist, speak for themselves.
The following two photos, also by Natalia Zhivova, display the botanical beauty of Southampton, the artist’s city. She routinely takes walks to visit the fauna and flora of neighboring forests and parks, where she finds further inspiration for her work. She usually brings various members of her menagerie along with her on these bountiful perambulations.
The photo collage below, courtesy of Natalia Zhivova, shows some scenes the artist captured while visiting New Forest National Park, near her home in Southampton. The breathtaking, abundant beauty of this remarkable site serves as additional inspiration for the artist’s work.
The photo collages below, courtesy of Natalia Zhivova, faithfully represent the beauty of The Isle of Wight. This is a favorite travel destination for the artist. The natural beauty of this land, and the synergy between architecture and nature there, inform a number of critical aspects of Zhivova’s creative paradigm.
As Ms. Zhivova explained, the UK provides her with wonderful opportunities to experience natural beauty, architectural sites of historical significance, and, very often, a harmonious and inspiring juxtaposition of both. Below are two photo collages by the artist. From top to bottom (or left to right): River Hamble Country Park in Southampton, and the town of Reading.
The image below, captured by Natalia Zhivova, is that of a cluster of the soon to open blooms of a plant of unknown variety from her garden. I believe that this particular image is fitting as the final one of this interview. This plant will soon blossom fully in all of its glory and mystery. The artist herself, who draws faithful inspirational succor from this garden, and from all of the life flowering therein, will also continue to bloom with creative floridity. And like these yellow flowers poised to open wide to the light of day, the magical world of Cuteeli, and all of its wondrous inhabitants, will be revealed to those appreciative and delighted souls who’ve got a little bit of magic of their own within their hearts.
Again, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Ms. Zhivova’s interview and learning a bit about the work and passions of this amazingly talented artist. It’s been an honor to interview her, and I’m grateful to her for this opportunity. It was an absolute pleasure for me.
To learn more about Natalia Zhivova and her enchanting work, visit her website at cuteeli.com, follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/NataliCuteeli, and on Instagram at instagram.com/cuteeli.gift/. And like her on Facebook at facebook.com/cuteeli.gift.
Cheers, and Happy Gardening!
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Thank you for your kind words and your interest. I’m glad you like my site. I’ll do my best to provide interesting content on a continual basis.
I am constantly browsing online for tips that can assist me. Thanks!
Glad this was helpful.
I want all of these priceless characters – they each seem to have their own little soul!
Well done John. Thanks for sharing this with us.
I’m so glad you liked her interview. It was a pleasure for me, for sure. And you’re absolutely right about her beautiful creations. They’re made with pure love and it shows in each one!
Magical. So much talent and creativity. I thoroughly enjoyed your interview and pics
Thank you, Rick. I’m glad you enjoyed the interview. Ms. Zhivova is indeed an amazing talent and a gracious interviewee. It was a total pleasure for me to conduct this interview.
Love this!
Thank you, Colleen – I’m glad you enjoyed it! Her work is wonderful, and she is a fascinating and gracious person. It was a pleasure talking with her and learning about her creative process and her sources of inspiration.
Thanks for that, John! Such lovely creations! (The plant btw is Fritillaria imperialis, if I’m not mistaken. Which is rare but not unheard of. 😅)
Thank you, Al. I appreciate the plant ID and the kind words for Ms. Zhivova’s work. She’s definitely a talented artist as well as a talented gardener! Great catch on the plant ID. Thanks again!
It looks like Natalia has filled each of her creations with a gentle spirit that comes from her love of nature and home. What a lovely story and interview.
Thank you, Kevin. You’re right. Her work is very personal, and each character she creates resonates with her passion for nature. She is a remarkable artist.