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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
