Meet Natalie

What will you be working on during your time in the art’otel studio?

A new series of sketches and paintings continuing with recurring themes ‘Future Memories’ ‘Human footprint’ and ‘Resilience’

Talk us through your creative process?

Observation of human activity and spontaneity is the basis of all my art. I use a variety of different media, including paint, pastels, fabric sculpture, and film.I strive to capture the feeling of movement in all my artwork.

I always work with two hands simultaneously; this feels natural to me as I am ambidextrous. When painting I often don’t know afterwards which lines or brush marks were painted with which hand.

I enjoy creating live art at events. I love to embrace unpredictability and its effects on a finished artwork. It pushes me to concentrate on capturing the essence of the subjects, with economy of line. This way a finished image is revealed by the way a viewer’s brain perceives what is there and not there and fills in the gaps.

If you were a piece of artwork, what would you be?

I think I would aspire to be a Wassily Kandinsky painting, it’s the strong sense of colour I’m draw to in his painting. It’s as if his canvases are straining at the edges to contain the pace of music and movement.

Where can we see some of your pieces?

My artworks can be viewed on my Website as well as my Instagram

I often show at art fairs and twice a year I have an open studio event.

What are your favourite materials to use ?

At the moment I am mainly using acrylic paints and pastels working on paper or linen canvases.

What are your main sources of inspiration?

Definitely always movement! Dance seems to be a recurring theme, but I am just as inspired by capturing people from any walks of life going about their business

What’s your relationship between your art and your home?

I’m a true maximalist when it comes to what I wear. I am obsessed with colour, print, and texture and like to wear them all at once! At home, I would describe myself as ‘a tidy hoarder’, a magpie of all sorts of things that inspire me.

My inspiration comes from a diverse range of things; from jetsam collected on the shoreline, beads, fabrics, and trims from all over the world, to objects in hardware stores or builder’s merchants. This becomes very apparent when you look in the neatly labeled boxes in the cupboards in my art studio, my personal treasure trove.

What sounds do you like to work to?

Mood dictates this – I often work in silence, but I have a very eclectic taste in music. When I do listen to music whilst painting the type of music definitely has an effect on the speed I paint.

What does community in the art world look like to you?

I’ve lived in London for nearly 30 years and feel lucky to have a strong creative community of filmmakers, actors, fashion designers, makers, and artists – there is always something going on, and its nice to work together on projects and be inspired by other people’s diverse array of talents.

Outside of your artwork, what else are you passionate about?

I’m still very passionate about fashion design and pattern cutting. I enjoy making my own clothes. I also love to write stories and short film scripts and often perform at poetry open mic nights.