Tetyana Hubska Spotlight
Tetyana Hubska
Written by Sage Szucs, June, 2026
Born and raised in Ternopil, Ukraine, Tetyana Hubska never really saw herself as an artistic person. She did not dabble in any kind of art throughout most of her childhood, claiming that she was too much of a perfectionist to be willing to try and fail. After graduating high school, she went to culinary school for a year and a half before later pursuing analytics and working as an accountant assistant. Later, she attended university for English teaching and Practical Psychology. Just before her graduation, she took an opportunity to come to the United States as a foreign exchange student in 2007 and has remained here since, having now been a citizen for 6 years. After moving around the country for a couple years, she landed in Ohio in 2016.
“I became an artist in 2020 as a self-taught artist. I started with–you can laugh because everybody does–Bob Ross.”
She shared that she would watch Bob Ross’ videos to relax because of the calm she found through his presence and art, but never felt brave enough to actually try to follow any of the tutorials. That was until he said one thing that stuck with her, “If I can do this, you can do this too.” She commented on how just those words alone were life-changing to her and something that she will never forget, to which she responded, “I can? Okay!”
And that was all she needed to start her artistic journey. She began following along with Bob Ross’ videos, other YouTube tutorials, and any one-off classes she could get her hands on. Tetyana did not want to stop creating, but eventually started to need more structure.
“I needed education because I was getting overwhelmed with everything that I was coming across, and the more you build your skills or recognize that you can do multiple things, for me it was overwhelming, and I needed someone to direct me because I did not know what to do next, and how to do it.”
This pull is what led to her discovery of Nataliia Kupchyk, a Ukrainian artist and the founder of Botanical Watercolor School.
“I do like the botanicals because they help me concentrate. With the war that started in 2022 in Ukraine, I found myself in the position where I couldn't concentrate. I couldn't create. I needed extra help, and thinking that she actually was there in Ukraine, she was able to teach and give people live feedback. I thought, ‘This is amazing, and I'm gonna learn from her.’”
In these pieces, Tetyana likes to work on the more modern side of botanical art, focusing less on an anatomically correct depiction of a plant and more on its beauty and how it makes her feel.
“Now it's a more modernistic approach, where you can paint a flower that is falling apart or is dying, you know, and there's still beauty in that … I'm a very romantic person in approach to life. When I see something beautiful, I want to capture it.”
Beyond botanicals, Tetyana also creates conceptual digital, analog, and mixed media collages, claiming that it remains her favorite medium of choice because it is all created directly by her. She of course loves her botanicals as well, but her collages represent more of her deep thoughts, emotions, and philosophies.
“With collages, it's a wish to be in the state that I'm not in. It helps me kind of go back to what I had before something started that disturbed it, or stirred it. I follow politics very closely. I follow whatever's happening in Ukraine because my family lives there, and I go there every year, and I see the changes happening–good and bad–and it impacts you, emotionally and psychologically speaking.”
Being relatively new to Licking County’s art scene, Tetyana mentioned how she was surprised by the amount of charming personalities present throughout the area. She recently showed her art at a gallery event hosted in Newark’s Arcade, and was so impressed and welcomed by the vibrant, blossoming artistic community that she wants to continue pursuing opportunities in the area. She hopes that helping to provide more artistic exposure to the community makes an impact in the world, regardless of how cliche it may sound.
“I'm hoping that more people will get outside of just the spectator state and get into something more important in this life: self realization, self development, you know. So I feel like art definitely helps in that.”