Natalie Rhees Shupe was born in Ogden, Utah at the base of beautiful Ben Lomond Peak. She grew up on a small farm with animals and fruit trees and lots of room to roam. Oil painting lessons began when piano lessons failed. She hated to come inside to practice. Wise parents who just wanted to help her find her talents, substituted art lessons. As a result, she began to paint in oils at eleven years of age. In her youth, painting had to share time with climbing trees and chasing balls. It was at Snow College while playing softball that she had the opportunity to study with Osrael Allred and Carl Purcell. She finished a BFA at Utah State University in Art Education. When her two year old son ate the oil paints off her palette, she put them away. The demands of family took over. She found a creative outlet in quilting and won awards, taught classes, and published designs. The desire to paint returned when her oldest daughter began her art degree at Utah State. It looked so fun that when she heard about a workshop offered by John Poon, she signed up. She has been painting determinedly ever since. More workshops with John Poon, John Hughes and Russell Case have increased her vision of what paintings can be. She is anxious to learn all she can. Searching for subject matter, hiking, roaming, and exploring, are the special perks of being a landscape painter.
