'CHEEKY' Painting

I am Natalie Mills, but for as long as I can remember people have called me ‘Millsy’. I grew up in Birmingham but moved to London in 1995 to study BA Hons in Fine Art at The Byam Shaw School of Art, graduating in 1998. For over 15 years after graduating I never so much as picked up a paintbrush. Life got in the way! But approximately 10 years ago I started painting once again. My work documents a very personal journey, a therapeutic reconnection with art. At first, a blank canvas scared me, always fearful of the outcome, scared it wouldn’t represent what I want to convey and the possibility of it all going wrong. As I progressed emotionally as well as creatively I became freer, worrying less, learning to look at things differently; a mirror to my life in general. It was then I captured my love for painting once again. ‘What’s the Worst That Can Happen?’ Mistakes are inevitable; and we learn from them. If it doesn’t work first time, you can start again or try something else and go back to it later. This has given me a lot of creative and personal freedom. Everything happens for a reason. Now blank canvasses excite me. Mostly I love using bright colours, whether that be covering the whole canvas or an element of colour(s) that pops against a dark or pale white background. I love experimentation and spontaneity but also enjoy the contemplation phase when working through various stages of a painting. I’m enjoying using materials I’ve never considered, or been afraid to use before. My pieces are colourful, vibrant and hopefully thought provoking, which would be unique to every individual viewing them as everybody see's things differently. They are all part of a story from within; my story and yours. “Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it” – Danny Kaye (1911-1987)