Nataliya's work is so meaningful, I love that she used words and images to make a love-ly collage book for her boyfriend. Pieces like this not only mean something to the creator, but to the viewer, too. Collage can be so much deeper than painting or drawing, and yet be so much easier to read.

Nataliya Toumanova
http://www.flickr.com/people/nataliyainspired/
The USA, by way of the USSR

Q: Describe your work in 10 words or less.
A: A combination of my heart and head.

Q: What do you like to work with?
A: Printed card stock and blank, yellowed paper ripped from old books, brown paper bags, images from magazines old and new, pictures from vintage books, Polaroids snuck from my grandmother's photo albums, paint, felt, yarn, ribbon, lace, pressed flowers and leaves, and anything else I can get my hands on.

Q: How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?
A: I've been collaging for around two years. I started after discovering jr__nal, an art journal community on Livejournal.

Q: Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?
A: Currently, I'm a student on my way to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY for my degree in art.

Q: Do you have any formal art training?
A: Not a bit! I am, however, trying to weasel my way into the AP art program at my high school.

Q: Explain your favourite techniques.
A: Cut, position, paste.

Q: Describe your favourite piece ever created.
A: I created a piece using a picture of a little girl blowing out birthday candles from a Good Housekeeping from the '40s, and made a stream of bugs erupting from her parted lips.

Q: What other artists do you admire?
A: Van Gogh, Dali, Monet and Kahlo. I'm also a big fan of Cassandra Warren. I've been watching her work for a while, and I'm enjoying watching her work progress.

Thanks Nataliya!