Back in November I was interviewed by Gemma Thompson for Roundabout magazine, a Suffolk-based magazine covering lifestyle, business, and culture in the area. The magazine is now out, and I'm delighted with the excellent work Gemma has done in putting together a selection of my images along with all of the information she gathered from the time we spent together during the interview. The image below is a quick photograph I've taken of the article in the magazine, and you can read the full interview below. A big thank you to Gemma for the effort she's put into this! You can follow Roundabout magazine on Twitter too: www.twitter.com/roundaboutmag - a great source for finding out what's on in Suffolk.
{Click on the image to view a larger version}
Watching The Seasons
Suffolk artist Natasha Newton tells us her secrets to success!
Natasha Newton is as distinctive as her work. And, like her work she exudes knowingness; you feel she is privy to secrets. Her paintings whisper secrets the way the wind whispers them through the trees, usually calmly and quietly so you have to strain to catch them, but sometimes the wind rises and bellows, just as her work seems to suddenly catch at you and without any obvious preamble you just know.
She loves the quiet beauty of the Autumn and Winter landscape and manages to combine the reflectiveness of these seasons with symbolism, stories and patterns. Sometimes creating landscapes viewed at a distance, or closer details of trees and birds, to produce her atmospheric messages. What I find intriguing in her work is how she manages to show so much life and expression in the times that the world withdraws.
She has always created and had an entrepreneurial spirit - she remembers making bookmarks and little gift tags and trying to sell them when she was a child. Although she could have gone to art school, various events prevented her from taking her place. It wasn't until 1999, when she was selected from thousands of applicants to exhibit as part of the Singer & Friedlander/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, followed by winning second prize in the hotly contested Winsor & Newton Young Artist Award at the Royal Institute Of Painters In Watercolours annual exhibition, that she began to realise that this could become far more than a hobby. At this point she wondered if missing art school would hamper her, but a friend who had attended reassured her that art school was about practising, and she did plenty of that!
Natasha crosses the divide between artist and businesswoman. She has been a full time artist since April 2007 and is able to support herself through the sale of her work - something that most artists only dream of! In fact it is probably because of her artistic nature that she's accomplished this. All good artists teach us to see the possibilities in the world, and Natasha saw the possibilities in the internet.
Since the launch of her website Natasha has gained a large following, and now receives regular commissions and sells to collectors all over the world, including a US Senator and a Peer of the Realm. "When I first started selling on the internet I liked how it allowed me to introduce my work to a much larger audience, and I was able to reach people who don't necessarily visit art galleries. Before this I'd always sold my work in the 'traditional' way; through galleries, exhibitions, word-of-mouth and commissions. Although the internet definitely makes buying art easier and less intimidating, I think what really makes a difference is the communication buyers can have with the artist; we can speak to each other directly and this allows the buyer to be much more involved. It's great for me to have this contact with my collectors."
She still enjoys exhibiting - as she told me "I like to keep as many irons in the fire as I can", and has a permanent exhibition with the Serena Hall Gallery in Southwold, Suffolk, and also takes part in themed exhibitions at Reunion Gallery in Felixstowe. On top of this Natasha has two large shows planned for 2010: the first will be a solo show of new work at The Cinema Gallery in Aldeburgh, Suffolk from 30th July - 5th August with sound installation/music by the American composer Leon Milo. This is breaking new ground for her and will show us all another side to her style. The second will be her first international show; a joint exhibition with the artists Peter Klint and Franziska Steuer, on the island of Sylt in Northern Germany in October/November 2010.
The internet also led to her work being used by the book publishing company Random House as the cover artwork for a series of five books, due to be published in March 2010. It was also used to illustrate an article on Mad Atoms, and she was commissioned to create the artwork for singer-songwriter Amit Erez's self-titled CD album, released in December 2007.
If you want to join her online you can follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/natashanewton or www.twitter.com/blackbirdsings
You can view and buy her work from www.natasha-newton.co.uk or www.theblackbirdsings.etsy.com
Text © Gemma Thompson/Roundabout Magazine 2010
Artwork © Natasha Newton 2010
