#Nartalies Protfolio
Over the years, Nartalie has learned to truly create and understand her art. In many ways, art found Nartalie before she even realized she needed it. What began as curiosity slowly blossomed into a deeper, evolving relationship—one that continues to grow as she grows.
Throughout her journey, Nartalie has explored different ideas, styles, and series. Some collections are complete, while others are still evolving, waiting for their time to be finished. Art, for Nartalie, requires patience, consistency, and dedication to truly see growth. Her portfolio is arranged chronologically, beginning with her earliest works and leading to her most recent pieces.
The Shades of Gray- 2015
About the Series:
This series marks the beginning of Nartalie’s journey with painting. At the time, she didn’t truly know how to paint. Her passion was drawing, and she was simply trying to get through her art classes in school. One of her professors noticed her work and told her that she had a strong talent for drawing portraits.
Drawing was something Nartalie understood and felt confident in, but painting was still
unfamiliar to her. She wasn’t sure if she even loved it yet. It wasn’t until she completed this series that her relationship with painting began to grow.
Looking back, these pieces represent the moment when Nartalie stepped beyond drawing and allowed herself to experiment with a new medium. Each painting from this series has since found its own home, which makes this collection even more special to her.
My First Self Story
Much like Frida Kahlo, Nartalie has always been drawn to painting self-portraits. It is the subject she understands most-(herself.) Through these works, she expresses the emotions, experiences, and challenges she has faced throughout her life.
Her first self-portrait was created in college. As she painted, a story began to unfold. One that had been waiting to reveal itself. The process came naturally to her, and since then she has continued exploring different forms of self-portraiture throughout her work.
Over the years, she has created many versions of her self-portrait. Some pieces were never saved or documented, existing only in the moment they were created.
There was also a time in Natalie’s life when she no longer wanted to label her work strictly as self-portraits. Instead, she began painting women who carried pieces of her story. People often asked if the women she painted were meant to be her. In many ways, they were. As an artist, she paints from what she knows—her emotions, struggles, healing, and personal experiences.
The self-portraits shown represent different eras of Nartalie’s life.
The first piece, Beyond My Vision (2015), was her very first portrait. She remembers her professor complimenting her speed and ability to complete the painting within just two days. The artwork explores her search for direction—capturing her fears, hopes, personal growth, and emotional struggles.
The next portrait, Fears of My Shadow, was created for her final college art show three years later. Compared to her first painting, the growth in her artistic process is clear. During this time, she began to develop a stronger understanding of realism and structure within portraiture.
Her most recent self-portrait, Seductive Me, was created during a time of rediscovery after becoming a mother. She did not feel like herself and longed to reconnect with her confidence and identity. Wanting to feel vibrant and desired again, she created a bold, expressive, and abstract self-portrait that meets the viewer with a powerful gaze.
Beyond My Vision- 40x30. Oil Paint. 2015
Fears of My Shadow- 24x 40. Oil Paint. 2018
Seductive Me- 20 x 24. Oil Paint. 2023
Mind Blown Collection- 2018-2020
During college, Nartalie didn’t always know what to draw. She was navigating her young adult life while trying to understand what it truly meant to be an artist. At the time, the idea of “being an artist” felt unfamiliar and undefined. She never created series—instead, she painted whatever inspired her in the moment. Repeating the same subject felt limiting, so she explored a little bit of everything.
Looking back, Natalie now understands the discipline and intention that can come with building a body of work. She remembers a moment when a college professor encouraged her to find a series and stick to it. At the time, she didn’t fully understand what that meant but today, that advice holds a deeper meaning.
Nartalie didn’t begin creating series until later in her journey as an artist. Even now, she still allows herself the freedom to create spontaneously and build her skills through exploration. However, she has developed a variety of series that reflect different parts of her artistic growth.
One of these is the Mind Blown Collection—an ongoing series that explores restless thoughts and layered emotions. In this work, Nartalie embraces the chaos of the mind by overlapping imagery and creating visually rich compositions that invite the viewer to look deeper. Each piece is designed to keep the eye moving, discovering something new with every glance.
Sports Collection - 2016-2023
This series was inspired by Nartalie’s first painting of Larry Fitzgerald. After completing that piece, she became more focused on developing her skills in realism and challenging herself to improve with every painting.
Each work in this series allowed her to practice observation, detail, and patience as she continued learning how to bring realistic portraits to life on canvas. It became an important step in strengthening both her technique and confidence as an artist.
All of the paintings from this series have since found their homes, and it holds special meaning to know they are out in the world, bringing beauty into someone’s space.
Art After College
Women Wonderland
Natalie didn’t truly find her voice in art until after college. Her experiences and everything she’s been through have brought her to where she is today. There are moments when her art simply flows. She can create an entire piece in one sitting, while other times, finishing a painting is a real challenge.
Her series, Women Wonderland, is about a woman discovering her confidence, embracing herself and speaking a language only a few understand. A woman’s life, after all, can be an adventure, an ongoing journey to stay uplifted, even with so much weighing on her shoulders.
Colorful Zodiac
Natalie is in the process of finishing her zodiac sign series. She currently has two series about zodiac signs in progress at the moment.
The Colorful Zodiacs are a collection of stunning women, each reflecting the zodiac sign through Natalie’s vision of how they might appear in real life. In this series, Natalie keeps her style loose and exotic, using unfinished pencil marks and shading that steps outside the lines, showing both flaws and growth over time. She leaves these marks as part of the story of her own evolution. She hopes to complete the series by the end of 2026, alongside her quick sketch series.
Zodiac Quick Sketch
Nartalie has always loved to draw even more than she loves to paint. She enjoys scribbling and creating something from the wildest movements of lines, embracing mistakes and the natural flow. Right now, Nartalie is focusing on her sketching series to grow in areas she hasn’t explored yet, building her ability to see things in new ways.
The Zodiac Quick Sketch :is a snapshot of how Nartalie imagines some zodiacs. For this series, she handpicked every person she drew, spotting them by chance and seeing them as the perfect match. Nartalie is working toward finishing the series, planning to draw every zodiac with both a male and female figure. These zodiacs are also part of Nartalie’s challenge of 100 #QuickSketchPaintings, which she aims to complete by the end of the year.
