Kristine Pasternaka at first graduated from the Riga Art School as a painter, then from the Latvian Academy of the Art's Textile Department as a textile artist. After her studies she freelanced and took part in exhibitions as a textile artist. Her first production was James Goldman's The Lion in Winter at the Latvian National Theatre, later followed by one hundred drama and opera productions, among them Strindberg's The Dance of Death (1996), Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (1995), Williams's The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1995), Handel's Alcina (1998), Verdi's Macbeth (2003), Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (2003), Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades (2005), Verdi’s Nabucco (2006), Mozart's Don Giovanni (2009), Verdi's Il Trovatore (2010), Pucini's Manon Lescaut (2011). She has been working as a costume designer in drama theatres and opera houses in Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Croatia and Russia. Today she is a Head Costume Designer of the Latvian National Opera and a lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Arts, Department of Stage Design/Theatre Costume. Kristīne Paternaka was three times awarded as the Best Costume Designer of the season in Latvia; two times she was a laureate of the Great Music Award as a costume designer for opera productions.