We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natalie Bloom. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natalie below.

Hi Natalie, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

I wouldn’t compare myself to others. We all bring something unique to the table and trying to fit into a box that seems to work for other people will lead straight to under valuing your distinctive personal potential. I needed a lot of self-discovery and had many lessons to learn before I was able to tap into the woman I am becoming, someone I am proud of and excited for. I wish my younger self had had more faith in the process that led me here, being a creative person isn’t often a linear path.

Natalie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Nothing enlightened me quite like becoming a mother did. Before motherhood the plan was to enter the mental health field, but through a dark postpartum period I had some realizations about my own mental health that led to the understanding that I need to be more creative in my work. Many new moms lose themselves in their babies, and I certainly did that, but about six months in I had to come up for air and turned to my lifelong hobby of painting.

Every time I laid my baby to nap I sat to paint. Using social-media I advertised pet portrait paintings and was soon painting for my whole network, eventually expanding beyond pet portraits and broadening my client base. I evolved from realism to my own vibrant style, crafting over 200 custom pieces in the following three years. It was extremely empowering to get paid to develop my artistic style and I cannot preach the power of daily practice loud enough to any aspiring self-taught artists in the room.

The pandemic shook everything up on every level of my life and by the time it was through I was ready to get my Bachelor’s degree. I went for web design and development with the idea that I could lift other creatives by helping them develop their digital presence, something that can feel like a necessary evil to a creative trying to sell work in the modern online market.

Since graduating earlier this year I have been busy with freelance website builds for individuals while I search for a job in web and UX design. I meet people where they are at with their creative businesses and brands and help them define their online identity, strategizing how to best meet their goals through their website and handling all the technical details along the way. As an artist of course I value a visually stunning website, but I also ensure every page I build has intuitive user experience and meets accessibility standards because I am also passionate about making the web a more equitable place. Things are slowly improving but in 2023 there are still an average of 50 accessibility errors per website homepage (WebAIM, 2023) making it difficult for the reported one in four adults with a disability to access and engage with the content in the way it was intended. The goal is to create equal access to information. Not only do you lose potential customers by not being accessible, but Google’s algorithm will pick up on poor accessibility and your page will not perform as well in search results.

My medium told me she doesn’t see me working for anyone but myself, but my fingers are still crossed I will find the right job, as much as I love to teach myself, I know I can gain a ton of insight and inspiration from collaboration and make more of an impact by teaming up with others. I will make positive change wherever I end up. In the meantime, please reach out if you want a website to expand your creative practice- crafted by an artist, for an artist.

Taking the financial pressure off of painting means I can create more authentic work, other people liking my art is no longer relevant- I create solely for me, I am no longer trying to gauge and give what the people want because my bills depend on it. My personal work is heavily influenced by my deep love of nature and symbolism. Before children my church was hiking trails but after children I had safety concerns about them, so I connected to their energy through painting. In my earlier work you’ll see a lot of Texas, but these days you’ll recognize the blue hues of the Smoky Mountains as I have moved to western North Carolina to raise my kids near family. My paintings are available through my website and I still selectively do commissions.

https://webaim.org/projects/million/

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Connecting with other creatives. In many fields there is an undertone of competition but I have found many creatives to be less busy gatekeeping, they have invigorating energy and they’re inviting in a way that lifts those around them up and leads to greater inspiration and collaboration.

We all know the tech industry is not particularly known for this, but once I get my foot in the door I plan to bring this mindset and infect those around me as necessary. We are better when we work with each other, not against each other.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My kids are 5 and 2, old enough that their personalities are already evident, they are creative curious kids who will probably grow up with many of the same strengths and challenges I did. I hope my creative journey inspires theirs- imaging their generation grown up given the climate (both literally and figuratively) is tough, career advice from generations past probably won’t be as relevant for them because they live in a time of exponentially increasing technological advancements shaping the landscape of their lives. I want my kids to honor who they are at their core as individuals and use this understanding to shape their world in a positive way. They copy everything else I do, I hope they have the courage to carve their own paths too.

Contact Info:

• Website: natalieebloom.com
• Instagram: natalieebloom.art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-bloom-8b1840249/