natashatraymond

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Latest work <3

Challenge 143: Lucky Charms: Lucky Number Seven

Ever since I was little number seven has always been the most lucky for me personally. When I was 7 I moved to a new house and got a horse, July was always my favorite month and good things happen to me in July, any fortune cookie fortune with a 7 came true, as I got older I’d find weird coincidences would happen in sevens. The 777 scratch ticket would always net me money. For example my husband is the 7th guy I dated and my first professional art studio was #7. For this piece rather than make it too personal, I chose to represent the 7 continents, 7 world wonders, 7 kitties, a boat for the 7 seas, and the 7 colors of the rainbow. This is probably one of the coolest small pieces I’ve ever done and despite all the hiccups in the last week I’m really happy with how this came out.

6 layers of baltic birch, hand painted with watercolors. 

- Natasha

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Challenge 141: Story Time Through Patterns: Space Mouse

Up up and away! This tiny mouse takes a rocket into space to gift Ms. Moon with a mushroom gift. I separately wood burned all the pieces, photographed them and then digitally re-arranged the elements. I thought this set would make a great kids bedroom set. The main pattern for a comforter, and two supporting pillowcases. 

I’m pretty happy with this style and have really enjoyed playing with patterns. They’re typically outside my comfort zone but I love the idea of making more fabrics for my tiny home <3

- Natasha

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Interview with Natasha Stoppel

Our next interview is with traveling artist, Natasha Stoppel! Natasha’s work is strongly rooted in nature, with a fantastical and sometimes mystical twist. Her watercolor and ink paintings are not just restricted to paper- using pyrography in place of ink, she translates her signature style to her unique wooden artwork and jewelry. Let’s dive in!

“The Quiet Hen”

Q: Natasha, your artwork is so sunny and charming, even when you’re using a minimal color palette, the pieces seem to celebrate life. Where do you get your inspiration? 

A:  All of my inspiration comes from my travels around the world, nature, and the idea of self empowerment. 

 Q: Another impressive thing is how prolific you are, especially with your pyrography projects. What would you say is the most challenging part of making the jewelry you craft? 

A: Jewelry making is something that has come rather easy to me, but I guess the most challenging part is creating new designs that are unique at such small sizes. Sometimes I’ll have really fun ideas but when they’re shrunk down to an appropriate earring size they fail. Designs cannot just be pretty, they have to be functional.  

“The Great Heron”

Q: When it comes to illustration, describe your process from start to finish.

A: Everything starts as a sketch. I’ve always got a sketchbook with me and I jot down anything I see or hear that inspires me. From there it depends on the type of illustration, but recently I’ve been taking everything back into the computer. I work predominantly in illustrator to bring the linework to life. With my new wooden relief sculptures I also have to start to decide how the layers are going to fit together. It’s almost like a puzzle that you have to think of in 3D even though it’s still in a 2D space. Once the idea is finalized I have to unpack all the layers so that every piece is flat, and then laser cut all the pieces- typically out of baltic birch. After everything is cut, I then have to reassemble the piece and make sure all the shapes fit together as I imagined. Sometimes I have to hand cut or re-cut pieces when the design doesn’t work out the way I had planned. When I’m happy with the pieces I then separate them into layers (typically foreground, middle ground, background) and woodburn more linework, paint with watercolors, gouache, or ink, and then start to glue all the pieces together. Once the sections are dry I then glue together the whole piece. Lastly I spray with a protective lacquer finish. 

“Skull o’ Mushrooms”

Q: I know you’ve done a lot of traveling and must have a lot of memories to look back on. What’s been your favorite experience so far from your life on the road? 

A: Each place I visit has its own unique charm so it’s really hard to narrow down my favorite experience. No matter where I go I always enjoy having connections with locals. A lot of my favorite experiences are because I traveled solo, which forced me to have more one on one interactions with the people around me. I really listen to what they have to say about their country. I love learning about their experiences and thoughts, especially ideas that sometimes are so different than mine. I’ve also experienced the human connection of sharing an experience with someone else when neither of you speak the same language. Dancing with a bunch of Kazakhs to Lady Gaga in a ger in Mongolia is one such experience.  

Q: If you were an animal, which would you be a why? 

A: I’m very much a cat. I value my independence, love to run around and explore, enjoy naps in the sun and occasionally like to cuddle. 

“Owl Gaurdian”

Q: Day at the beach, or night on the town? 

A: Night on the town for sure. 

Q: Do you have a favorite artist, and if so, who is it? 

A: I have many favorite artists but my current favorite is Melpomeni Chatzipanagiotou (Menis_Art on insta) her level of detail in black and white is just absolutely stunning! 

“A Mouse Among Mushrooms”

Q: What’s the latest show you’ve binge-watched? 

A: The Wilds on Amazon. I love psychological shows. 

Q: If you had a year to work on any projects you wanted, without having to worry about finances or commitments, how would you spend that full-funded year?

A: I honestly would do exactly what I’m doing right now. Creating wooden reliefs, jewelry and videography that spoke to me, typically based off my travel experiences. Without having to worry about finances I would just create MORE of it.

Q: What’s the most surprising fact about you? 

A: I don’t know if this counts as surprising since I’ve built a business out of it, but when I meet strangers they are always very surprised by the fact that I quit my comfy, full time, full benefits corporate job- (that was in my field of Animation!) to go live out of a backpack and travel for a year.   

Natasha herself!

Q: Anything else you would like the readers to know? 

A: I’m currently in the middle of building a school bus conversion with my husband. We plan to live on the road full time once it is finished. I pour my heart and soul into my two youtube channels one of which focuses on my art ( https://www.youtube.com/c/artistexplorestheworld ) and the other focuses on building our tiny home and adventuring ( https://www.youtube.com/c/artistexplorestheworld ) 

If anything I’ve said in this interview inspired you or that you related to I’d love it if you reached out on either channel. I’m working on building a community of like-minded adventuring creatives.

You heard it folks! You can also follow her on Instagram at @artistexplores_travelstories for more art updates.

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Challenge 132: Game Time: Just One More Block

Whenever my husband and I get sucked into a game of Minecraft we somehow always end up pulling all-nighters, all the while saying “just one more block” and then I’ll go to bed. It’s a game I always return to because I love the challenge of collecting rare materials and the creativity of building ships, houses, farmland, and castles. It has a simple design, but is incredibly addicting and fun for people of all ages. This is my second laser cut piece and I originally wanted to do all of the layers of the earth. Had to stick to the base layers since this was much more work than I originally thought. I hope to keep adding to it in the future but for my first piece of laser cut landscape and my first piece of fanart in ages- I had a lot of fun!

- Natasha

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Challenge 131: What I learned from the Pandemic: Self Care is Vital to Health

This pandemic, for me, has been overshadowed by my health issues. Having back to back surgeries has been incredibly difficult, and even more so while the world, my business, and my relationship has all been thrown into chaos. I had previously taken my physical health for granted, and also ignored mental issues by burying them. This pandemic has made me realize how vital health is. Not just physical health but mental health. We need to be kind to ourselves during this chaotic and stressful time. We need to pay attention to the needs of our health. I need to improve my self care because it’s so important to maintaining the productive lifestyle I enjoy. Side note: This was my first laser cut illustration and I’m so in love with this new medium.

- Natasha 

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Challenge 123: Freebie: Self Portrait

Took this chance to create an updated self portrait for social media. Black and white to match my current style and also just in time for Inktober!

- Natasha 

Instagram

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Challenge 126: Twenties-Something: An Afternoon in the Window


I was immediately drawn to creating something inspired by a mix of Mucha and Art Deco style. Because of a death in the family I chose to simplify the design but overall I’m very happy with the results. This panel will be available for sale in the studio


-Natasha Stoppel

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Challenge 127 : Dream Lover : As Dream Lovers Do

Not going to lie it’s been a rough couple of weeks for me personally so I’m very thankful this illustration poured out of me. Nothing better than cuddling up with my cat Christopher and dreaming the day away. 

- Natasha

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Challenge 129: Community: Our Tiny Home Community

Ever since college I’ve dreamed of living in a tiny home. I love the idea of a small community of people supporting each other. My husband and I are in the process of creating a skoolie and I can’t wait to be a part of the community. Already on our build we’ve met some pretty awesome people and I can’t wait to one day have a tiny house community of our own.

- Natasha   

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Challenge 130 : Zodiacs: Owl Heart

Ever since I was a little kid my mother had a set of native american animal healing cards that she would use. As an avid animal lover I was obsessed with the illustrations on each of the cards and resonated with the idea that each animal had symbolism and purpose. Even now when I tend to side more towards science and facts, I still love the idea that animals have special meaning and significance. Every time a strange animal happens to cross my path I can’t help but google the results and be coincidentally surprised at how that answers whatever thought or question I had been struggling with. That’s why while I find almost all of the zodiacs to be accurate for my personality, I resonate most with that of Native American Owl totem. Due to my health I couldn’t hand draw this round so I created a tattoo design digitally of an owl totem. 

As with every artwork I create that pulls from cultures that are not mine, here is brief background on the origin. I am not Native American, and have only done basic research on Native American totems and medicine cards. To the best of my knowledge they originated from a man named Vincent Laduke (also known as Sun Bear) a New Age author from the 80s. In particular most of the information found online stems from his book: “The Medicine Wheel” which is the book and card deck my mother had.

- Natasha

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Big Tedy Bear Family

ink drawing, watercolor, illustration from 1998

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I know I’ve been quiet on Tumblr, and at this point on my blog. I’ve focused my efforts on my Youtube channel and it’s really taken off a lot more than I could have hoped for. I’ve been posting my art videos as well as bullet journal videos over on there for others to join me in this fun art journey! 

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#detail of my newest full #illustration Based on my #travels in #southkorea. #turtle #dragon #korean #traveladdict #instatravel #instapassport #art #travelart #instaart

[natashatraymond]

#detail of my newest full #illustration Based on my #travels in #southkorea. #turtle #dragon #korean #traveladdict #instatravel #instapassport #art #travelart #instaart

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Art Slam: Day 4:

Finished the new illustration! =D

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Art slam: Day Three. Another small sneak peak at the WIP illustration I'm working on. Should finish tomorrow! =D

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Art Slam: Day 2 Working on a new illustration inspired by my time in South Korea.