Natasha Barnes stumbled upon painting at the age of seven, but instinctively knew that it would consume her life and define who she would become. Completely self-taught, her journey began with watercolours, with the visual contemporary images surrounding her life all finding their way onto her palette – and the walls of many commercial and private institutions around the world.

“As with all journeys, the abstract nature of this path soon took hold, and without guidance or persuasion I found myself moving in a completely different direction in a very short space of time,” she says. “My love for expressionism and movement was hard to suppress and I eventually let my hand roam free, creating the many large works of colour for which I am known today.”

“I consider myself an abstract painter, but over the years I have done many contemporary paintings, still widely available in print through numerous publishers worldwide.”

Considered to be one of Africa’s most published artists, Natasha has sold her work all over the world and done numerous corporate and private commissions, artworks for Hollywood and TV, greeting cards, hotels, airport lounges and boardrooms. She attends several large international art fairs each year and is co-owner of the Turner Barnes Gallery in the UK.

Natasha holds an international Grande Diplome in Cordon Bleu cookery from the Silwood School of Cookery in Cape Town and worked as a cookery editor for many years before swapping her spatula for a paint brush. Her first book, The Culinary Adventures of a Travelling Cook is the journey of her art and food, and the canvas that brought them together.