Ekaterina "Katya" Zavarikhina sets herself apart as a master painter of Palekh lacquer miniature by giving realism and inner feeling to the characters on her boxes, no matter how whimsical the theme. Katya fell in love with the artistry on lacquer miniature upon a chance visit to the Russian village of Palekh in 1981. She had already graduated from a Russian art institute and was working as an art instructor. She desided to dedicate herself to the Palekh art form and completed its art academy in 1987. She has exhibited her work since 1991 and several of her pieces are held by museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as by many private collectors in Russia and abroad.