Meet Tanja, the artist behind our Mobility logo

December 15, 2021

If you’ve seen this somewhere then it’s because we recently launched our Mobility Daily Joint Supplement Powder for Dogs and Cats! Setting that aside, take a closer look above wherein it’s not just our Mobility logo but more meaning behind where there’s chaos of love from our fur baby dogs and cats.

Continue scrolling! You’re in for a surprise plus get to know more about the creative artist behind this masterpiece, Tanja Russita!

So, who is Tanja within art and when not doing art?

She’s a Russian-speaking Latvia-born artist, writer and mother of two. She loves animals and nature a lot. She enjoys every day of her life in Scandinavia - first in Norway, above the polar circle, now in the less exotic, still stunningly beautiful West coast of Sweden. She has no relevant art education, but somewhere deep in the past before drawing, kids and North, she got her PhD in Psychology and a couple of other diplomas which all helped her a lot in her work.

Last twelve years, she has worked from home as a freelancer and enjoys it, maybe even more than hiking paths, so nothing has changed for her since the pandemic started. Almost nothing - in every place they lived, she always ran a tiny drawing course for nearby kids, now she runs it online and has 10 groups weekly instead of one, which is a lot of fun, but very demanding at the same time.

You might be interested if she has any pets, and yes she does. Unfortunately, no dog yet, they still have to persuade her very cautious father and husband, but interestingly they do have rats (and a large terrarium with different millipedes and leaf insects).

What does she like about art?

The freedom? In all senses - starting from waking up time (whenever she’s ready to wake up) until the subject she will draw today, choosing if she wants to work or go hiking/skiing. Of course, she has to work hard for years, and get happily married to the most awesome man to have all these privileges now.

For her, it never was a burden - both marriage and hard work as they’re part of the fun. Also, she can't say that she likes or dislikes something about art. It is everywhere, like the air or life. Sometimes one can feel its absence, maybe, but it is hard to even imagine it.

Tanja’s art themes

She mostly illustrates picture books - her own and commissioned, but also does whatever people need. She thinks most of the fun from illustrator's work is in its diversity. Her favorite is still doing her tasks including people and animals. Inside her every subject, her interests change with the life flow.

When her kids were small, she drew a lot of pictures about the daily life of young parents and kids. She wrote and published several books for beginner readers. Now her children are older, she has changed her focus such as being an active member of their nearby tango community and draws tango dancers about as much whilst dancing at milongas (social dance meetings).

What's her inspiration that kept her going with art?

Oh, that's nature and people. Best way to get inspired and want to draw is just living life: meeting people, dancing, hiking, cycling, preparing meals or trying to find ways to bond with your teenager.

From all the artwork you've done, what’s your favorite?

Tanja: Oh, that's the hard question! I have my favorite tango pictures and book illustrations. Funny, they are not those that have the most likes on Facebook, but I still will show you them.

Piece of advice

“Once I took the photoshop course in Edinburgh College of Art, and my teacher, Richard Strachan, got a look on my screen and asked if I illustrate children's books. I said no, mostly because I am that bad at drawing hands. I know some people do draw characters with weak "cloudy" hands and don't bother and I wish I could be brave enough to do the same... He looked with a very special look and said that I gave myself good advice already. Since then, I count the beginning of my children's book illustrator's career. And this is my advice, too - Go ahead! Don't bother, illustration is not a neurochirurgie, it is hard to kill somebody with a not-that-perfect picture!” ~Tanja

Do you have any of your own books we can promote?

Tanja: Sure! I have a lot of books in Russian, those are hard to promote here, but also my Amazon account consists of some nice books. I especially like the last one, Woolsock and Halloween - about the highly sensitive little owl depicting my daughter.