Whilst my work is discernibly representative, I wish the viewer to feel drawn into what becomes for me a speculative concept of colour and shape. The medium is oil built up in layers over time to create a vivid and translucent finish, it also benefits by creating a depth and intensity of colour enhancing the drama and whimsy.

I’ve been trying to get to the core of why I have these recurring themes running through all my work to date and after much ruminating I think I’ve realised the nature ingredient is enormously important, that has become increasingly clear through reviewing previous paintings. The natural world displays incredible diversity and tenacity adjacent with transience and fragility. You feel wonderment and delight and you remember that you are connected to all living things, that you are part of something bigger. I’ve become interested recently in a still life aspect to my work, looking at old toys, bones and neglected and discarded objects and it’s these objects that have their own provinence, their own stories that I find interesting, and I’ve also realised that a narrative is fundamental to my painting. United with this is the anticipation of nature reclaiming man made elements that were once so treasured and revered is fascinating and ever evolving.

It’s these elements that fascinate me and I try to capture that essence in my work. I want the viewer to have the experience that is beyond that of the image itself.

Natalie started painting professionally shortly after moving to Shropshire in 2003, following her completion of a Fine Art Degree and a post-grad in Stage and Set design.

Natalie often works from photographs translated onto a large-scale canvas. The focus is then increased to enable the viewer to be surrounded and drawn into what becomes a detailed perception of colour, form, movement, and texture.

The subjects themselves are just the starting point to study these elements; the effects of sunlight and shadows are also having an increasing effect on my work; the subtlety of colours captures a unique moment. Each subject is so different, offering delicacy and detail but at the same time strength and vitality. It’s these differences that fascinate.

Natalie and she tries to capture that essence in her work. She wants the viewer to have an experience that is beyond that of the image itself; therefore, the scale of her work is important. By enlarging the scale, the nature of the subject is intensified, and enables the viewer to become surrounded by the beauty of the subject.

The focus of the painting is intensely studied to identify the motivation for the study. Her interests range from capturing the delicacy of a petal or feather while also showing the strength within the subject; this is then emphasized by the plain background where a minimum distraction is sought.

Her work has currently been shown in Tokyo, Singapore, London, New York, and Australia, as well as locally in Shropshire. She had an article published in Artists and Illustrator’s magazine in 2007, Shropshire Living Magazine 2021 and has delivered several masterclasses as the prestigious West Dean College, in Chichester while also a regular Artist in Residence at Nature in Art in Gloucester.