Rooted in the Pacific Northwest, Natasha Ramras is an artist who transports the viewer into a place of tranquility through her Impressionist scenes of nature. Drawn to the raw beauty around her, whether it be the Pacific coast, mountains, or waterfalls, she sits and paints in the midst of the natural world. Her work spans watercolor, oil paint, and pastels. Although she is especially drawn to landscapes—especially coastal scenes—she is also well-versed in portraiture, figurative works, and cityscapes.
Natasha’s paintings are a contemporary Impressionist dream, often done en plein air. Most of her brushstrokes are loose and airy—whether she’s painting water, rocks, or blooming flora—yet maintain realism. You can feel her capturing the essence of the space around her, finding the delicate balance between subjective experience and accuracy. Look at Jumping for Joy, for example—this oil painting shows a family all running into waves as they break on the sand. Although we can’t see their faces and don’t know much about them, we can feel the relationship between them, as if they are enjoying a family weekend at the shore. It’s easy to channel our own experiences as we watch them run into the water together.
One work that goes a bit more into abstraction is Through the Blooming Tree. Done in muted blues and greens, it’s a lovely 12x12 inch composition showing a view as if you were sitting on your back looking at the sky. We love the even looser brushstrokes that make it feel like the branches are slowly moving in the wind.
Lastly, we also want to highlight Natasha’s paintings done during the evening glow, a time of day that she’s perfected translating onto canvas. Her formal art education and pure talent shine through with these compositions full of calming shadows, rosy hues, and a certain kind of softness blanketing the entire work. Tahoe Sunset and Last Rays of Sun highlight this, the latter being an example of Natasha’s watercolor landscapes.
Natasha’s process is interesting. Often, she only has one or two hours or studio time each day, so she tends to paint “fast and furiously” to maintain productivity. Even so, she manages to produce around 200–300 paintings per year. Recently, she’s had a bit more time to immerse into her art world and paint, as she and her husband are now empty nesters.
Natasha’s work has been exhibited in Delaware, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. Additionally, it resides in private collections around the world.
You can always view more of Natasha’s work in many places online, such as her website.