Power Up: Katarina Perkovic

“Sometimes we need a little bit of silly in our lives.”

That was part of the intent behind Katarina Perković’s hydro box mural by Lily Creek, and as she says: “Intent comes before everything else.”

When she learned where she was going to paint a mural by a playground, Kat knew she wanted to create something or “families, kids, and kids-at-heart.”

“It started with the idea of incorporating paper airplanes, which are almost like a symbol of childhood. It’s such an exciting moment when you finally make a paper airplane that can fly,” she explained. “But the planes needed some pilots. That’s when all the different cats came in. I chose cats specifically because, well, I love cats and I wanted to include a part of myself in the piece. I made each of the cats do something different, and it’s been fun asking people which one is their favourite.”

Photo by Brandon Gray

Once she had her concept and had settled on soothing, monochromatic blue, she digitally sketched it out, primed her box, placed her designs by hand in pencil, then painted it over the course of a few days.

“I typically illustrate digitally so initially it was a bit nerve-wracking but once the painting started, I was able to get into the groove pretty quickly!”

The Croatian-born artist moved to Sudbury in the early ’90s with her family, and when she started kindergarten there was a significant language barrier that lasted for years. What helped her through it? Art. Her parents say she started drawing when she could hold a pencil.

Eventually, Kat wound up in graphic design (something she wished she’d done sooner) and has been amazed by the support of the community.

Kat says she just hopes “anyone who sees the piece might feel a little bit of joy.”