Natalie Featherston
One of the country’s most innovative and accomplished young artists, Natalie Featherston works exclusively in the centuries-old realm of still life to create dazzling narrative and trompe l’oeil paintings that combine the virtuosity of a Dutch Master with the vision of a thoroughly modern mind. The Chicago Sun Times has described her paintings as “artful beyond just illusion and trickery; they are truly masterful still lifes made with both craft and wit.”
“What inspires me most is the creative voice that still life gives. Unlike portraits or landscapes, still life doesn’t simply exist around us. You have to actually build the stage for the painting and select the subjects, colors, and textures. The end result must arrive at something that draws the viewer into an invented realm that connects with their experiences in a meaningful way. I have always found still life painting to be quite a challenge for these very reasons, and although it may qualify me for the ‘one-trick-pony’ category, I can’t imagine painting anything else.”
Natalie discovered her love of painting quite by accident after moving to New York City from North Carolina in the early 1990s to pursue her Master’s degree in Music. An accomplished cellist, she has had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and across Europe as a chamber musician and soloist. “Although I enjoyed making music, I really wanted to do something more creative and unique; something that was altogether mine. I started taking drawing classes at the Art Student’s League of New York and I was hooked.” Classes soon followed at some of New York’s most venerable art institutions: The National Academy of Design, The School of Visual Arts, The Drawing Academy of the Atlantic, and culminated in a six-year apprenticeship with Michael Aviano.
