My name is Natasha Ogilvie. I currently live, and work in Brooklyn, NY. I am a self-taught artist, born in Chicago IL on June 24, 1975. I grew up in a suburb of the city with my parents and older sister. I began singing very early, but my love of music quickly spread to theater and dance. Yet. I still felt unable to express myself fully.

Searching for solutions, I remembered gazing at illustrations in children’s books. I could gaze for hours at the shading and colors of these illustrations, fascinated by the world they created for me. I began to draw at sixteen, visiting the Field Museum and Art Institute often. I was seeking the feeling of wonder I had as a child. I bought a sketchbook and began to draw faces and dancers. I sketched other ballet dancers after my class was finished. I enjoyed the new understanding of the body, and movement, I obtained from ballet. I wanted to relay this freedom of movement and expression to others, through a structure of my own design.

I moved to Miami Florida in 1996. I was fortunate, and quickly met many artists and musicians from around the city. The tropical environment, the expansive sunsets, all influenced my artistic experiences. I began to work with pastels and wax in my sketchbook. I incorporated my personal need for movement, with the colors and energy of the new environment. Hours were spent discussing techniques and composition. These discussions, along with attending openings, became my artistic education.

These influences also quickly boiled over into my work. I found ways to apply my personal understanding of art and my view of beauty, to my painting. I unconsciously collected old wooden objects and things being thrown away. I was attracted t o the smooth hard surfaces. Many discarded articles hold the potential for beauty, if only given a second chance.

During the summer of 1999, I relocated to Brooklyn New York. Brooklyn offers many more found materials, so my experimentation grew. My current technique begins with cleaning the surface and applying a gesso of some sort. I use acrylic paint, then adding graphite, pastels, gel mediums, mortar for texture, plastic and a variety of other mediums. The work itself guides my hand. That is…I constantly build on the stroke before. I observe the process as it unfolds and allow the painting to reveal what it will be. My appreciation of nature, movement and my own emotions, are personified by my use of brilliant colors, and sweeping strokes.

I allude to a level of harmony that would be naïve in the world we live in. I do not paint the real word, only my visions of beauty, my dreams, fears, and memories, as they relate to my current situation and mood. Painting has always been the stress release from my other interests and activities. Now the act of transferring my thoughts onto wood and other surfaces is constant therapy for me. I only hope it may cause someone to look within themselves, and see something differently.