Natalie Mills

Birmingham

Natalie is a contemporary artist working primarily in abstraction. Originally from Birmingham, she moved to London in 1995 to pursue a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at The Byam Shaw School of Art, graduating in 1998. For the 15 years that followed, she forged a successful career in the sales and marketing industry, but something essential was missing—her connection to her art. Ten years ago, she made the decision to return to painting, and now works as a full-time artist in Birmingham. Natalie’s work is deeply personal, serving as both a therapeutic reconnection to her creative process and an exploration of her later-life experiences. Through abstraction, she reflects on the complex layers of emotion, memory, and self-discovery that have shaped her journey. Natalie’s creative process is intuitive, driven by a desire to experiment, play, and explore the unknown. She embraces the inevitability of mistakes, seeing them as opportunities for growth and unexpected insight. This allows her to approach each piece with the freedom to discover new techniques and personal revelations. The phrase “What’s the Worst That Can Happen?” encapsulates her approach. Whether a piece succeeds or not, each step offers valuable lessons, which shape both her work and her growth as an artist. Her process combines acrylic paint, spray paint, and collage to create colourful compositions that dance between abstraction and figuration.