By Shya Beth
Natalie Fox always knew she was going to be an artist, but the journey she took to becoming a professional painter was different from most artists. Art runs in her family and she’s had a lifelong interest in horses, so it’s no surprise that those two passions collided in the form of bold equestrian art.
“I’ve been surrounded by art and artists my entire life, and my mother worked very hard to foster my creativity from a very early age,” Natalie said. “I ended up winning the Scholastic Gold and Silver Keys for my artwork—some large acrylic paintings and digital artwork—during my senior year in high school, and received a scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia. After dabbling in furniture design, 3D animation and ballet, I settled on studying costuming and theater from 2001 to 2005. I also rode on the equestrian team at SCAD, which was a fantastic experience and the best of both worlds. In hindsight, I wish I had known that I was passionate about painting, but it just wasn’t something that crossed my mind at the time.”
After having her first child, Natalie studied equine science at Michigan State University for about a year and a half. “I was in a transitional part of my life after having my eldest daughter,” she said. “Her father was from Michigan, so being in a new place and in the colder months, I thought it would be awesome to study what I love the most besides art: the horse. I learned so much about equine anatomy and psychology, and at the time I didn’t realize how much of an impact that education would have later on when I would start painting horses.”
When her daughter was 18 months old, Natalie became a single mom, and they moved back to her home state of Virginia. Struggling financially, Natalie was working within the school system when she decided to start painting portraits of dogs as a side hustle. From painting to costume creation, performing arts and working retail and at a scuba diving school, Natalie found many ways to use her skills to support herself and her daughter before finding her way back to horses and eventually focusing on them in her work.
Finding Her Stride
Eleven years after the birth of her eldest daughter, Natalie became a single mother again with her second daughter, also at 18 months old. “Painting really got me through that stretch of my life as well, and as I got better and better, I was able to increase not just my prices but my confidence and my portfolio. However, I burned out on painting because I was burned out as a person. For about two years, I stopped painting when I returned to my job as an analyst in the federal government after taking a couple of years off when my second daughter was born.”
Several years after her divorce was finalized in 2016, Natalie was introduced to the steeplechase world and encouraged to try to paint horses. This was the moment that brought her cultivated knowledge of her two passions together, as up until that time, Natalie had never painted a horse before. “I was actually good at it!” she said. “At that point I’d already been working in oils overall for about 16 years, so I had some pretty decent foundation skills down, but even looking at my paintings from a couple of years ago, I can see how much I’ve evolved painting horses.”
Now fortunate enough to live in Middleburg, Virginia, where there are more horses than people, Natalie has found her stride both with horses and art. “I spend a lot of time around the sport of polo, and there are plenty of ponies that need riding regularly,” she said. “I absolutely love every day of my life—I wake up happy and so very grateful every single day to be where I am, and doing what I’m doing.”
Modern and Bold
“I think what sets my work apart from other equine artists right now is that my style is a bit more modern and bold than traditional portraits,” Natalie explained. “Where I live, there are a lot of hunt country themes—meadows, foxhunts and very classical style paintings. I focus on action and movement, as well as high contrast and color. I like to give the painting a feeling of energy and not stagnancy.”
Instead of just being a being an onlooker, Natalie wants viewers to feel as if they are a part of her painting, using colors and contrast to create emotion and movement. Polo fits perfectly as the subject to explore, as within a split second there are a thousand things going on, giving her plenty to capture so beautifully in one image.
With the view in mind, Natalie finds inspiration from all facets of life. The warm spring through early fall months set the stage for her to create her most vivid and exciting work, balanced by days spent riding and enjoying polo. Several favorite artists are 
established painters Andrew Tischler, Lauren Pretorius and Fabiano Millani, as well as equestrian artists Julie Ferris and Sam Robinson.
Natalie’s ambition is to reach a point where she becomes a household name not just in equestrian art, but as a painter in the art world. “I think with every painting my confidence grows—and with that, opportunities pop up,” she said. “I’ve had sort of a bumpy road getting to this point, so I don’t take any day or any of the opportunities that come my way for granted. It all gets channeled into my work. I try not to think too far down the road, and just get the most out of every day and hope that tomorrow is just as good or even better. I’d love to have some of my surrealism work in New York, Los Angeles or London someday—but we’ll see what happens!”
For more information, visit www.nat-fox.com
