As a city kid from the sprawling metropolis of Houston, TX, Katarina did have many woods to explore or oceans to see but dreamt of one day traveling the world and living the life of Eliza Thornberry. Of course, her fascination with nature and exploration would only be visualized and doodled in her sketchbook. Her addiction to doodling was fueled by her grandma buying her cheap crayons and markers from the dollar store and coming home and watching the latest episodes of The Wild Thornberrys together. Like many kids, she loved cartoons, but it wasn’t until she watched the making of Bambi that sparked her interest in animation. After many rewinds and eventually breaking her VHS tape of Bambi, she fervently wanted to bring those images back to life by painting on cell sheets just like the Ink Department. Little did she know, this was the beginning of her dream of one day mixing her two loves of art and nature together.

Katarina kept her eye on animation as a career, which was mostly unheard of in her small world, but she desperately looked everywhere for people and schools that could help her grow as an artist. After a year of taking art classes in high school and learning more about 3D animation, she finally decided to apply to the University of Texas at Dallas. They had an animation program that was not well known but she believed that no matter where you go, it’s what you make of the moment.

At UT Dallas, she began taking classes in multiple disciplines of animation. She quickly learned there were many departments in animation and once she took her first lighting and compositing class that’s when her entire life changed. Watching how you can bring a character and an environment to life with lighting brought back the feeling when her grandma would buy her cheap crayons and markers to color in her sketchbook. The road to lighting was not an easy one but she poured every bit of her heart into every school animated project she was a part of.

Just when she was graduating the pandemic was at a rise and applying to studios was at a halt. During this time Katarina moved back to Houston with her mom and brothers. This wasn’t the dream she had hoped for but sitting in her childhood room remembering 12-year-old Kat dreaming of one day working in animation finally happened. She got the opportunity to work at a local studio in Austin. For a year and a half, she had the opportunity to mentor through the studio’s program and even took on a mentee. Coming back to Houston meant giving back to her local community in any shape or form. Ever since she was little, living and dreaming about animation in Houston sparked a promise she made to herself as a kid. If she ever made it in animation she would love to come back home and give back to her community.

Katarina is excited to join the Nick Artist Program to further hone her skills while making meaningful connections and getting some time to capture pictures of sunsets in Los Angeles.