Nataliya Nikolenko

Nataliya was born in the Ukrainian City Of Dinipro. She was orphaned at birth because of her disability and placed in a special orphanage for disabled children. She was there for the first 12 years of her life. She was then moved to a nursing home where she stayed for the next 18 years of her life. During this time she had a desire to draw and a good teacher helped her start painting by teaching her the art of Petrykivka Art which is Ukrainian Folk Art. Nataliya was determined to perfect her skill as a mouth painter. Her work slowly became know and her unique skill of mouth painting became very admired. This year 2022 Nataliya had the opportunity to leave her war torn Ukraine and come to Canada to live in Sarnia with her personal care worker Anya. She is continuing to paint and draw.