Hi, I'm Natalie. I have ALWAYS lived in North Carolina, and I love it! At Guilford College, I earned a BA degree in Visual Arts with a concentration in Painting. During a rather surreal semester studying abroad in Italy, we lived on the grounds of a medieval castle surrounded by steep vineyards. It's true. The castle was based in the Tyrol region in the Alps, and I enjoyed the artistic history and culture of nearby cities and villages, absorbing the beauty of traditional European painting and sculpture. Travelling, hiking and cross-country skiing weren't bad either!
I left with a powerful fondness for Botticelli, Van Eyck, and the superrealists of the 1500s. Later, I became aware of the Classical Realism movement in the United States, and I was particularly inspired by a portrait I saw of Duke University's Reynolds Price, painted by Will Wilson, a master realist in San Francisco. I have been delighted to have the opportunity to study with some gifted and accomplished realists, including Jeffrey Mims and Scott Burdick.
While I treasure and respect realistic painting, I have also been drawn towards more abstract work. I love the natural landscape, especially water, and I have enjoyed discovering how my imagination can be more abstractly expressed in the reflections of lakes and pools. Instead of copying, I feel I am creating, free to interpret and imagine. What results is, as a friend said, "a place you would like to visit, but that doesn't exist."
I have been blessed with positive reception to all styles of my work, and I have paintings in private collections in many states, as well as in corporate settings. I have participated in several national juried art shows, won some prizes, and bought a whole lot of art supplies. If my paintbrush had an odometer, I would let you know how many miles it has painted. In over 20 years, it has been pretty far! But I'm still learning. Even Michelangelo admitted to that.
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