Artist's Journal — Natalie Eslick

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Do the work. Revel in the work. Share the work.

Who do you see here? A tiny value study of a chimpanzee - a part of Beheld, Beloved collection. Eye miniatures in the style of 18thC Lover's Eye Artworks.

One tiny moment at a time - appreciating the magic all around us in this wild world.

Wrapped in gold and ready for your (wild) heart. Beheld, Beloved collection - tiny art with big heart.

One tiny moment at a time - appreciating magic all around us in this wild world.

Give me pencils and paper, and I can fly. I can become my subject. I revel in their gloriousness, and remember my own wild heart, my connection to all other wild things, and the beauty that is being present and alive.

The act of creativity is a gift, an opportunity to be completely present. It is the present of presence.

One tiny moment at a time - appreciating the magic all around us in this wild world.

The act of creation, the act of art-making - something that did not exist before, pouring out of your hands, mind and heart. A gift.

There is a truth, a reality to her, to the natural world and all of our non-human kin including the land, that we have separated ourselves from, dismissed, denied and, well, destroyed.

I was called to come back to creating as a means of healing connection with the wild within and without, of healing my lack of faith in humanity that was growing with the human rights work I was doing, healing my own lack of self worth because I had

Do the work. Revel in the Work. Share the work.

All about adoration, evoking connection, tiny reminders of the preciousness of the life represented. Each tiny original artwork made with deep compassion and mindfulness, an act of reciprocity and reverence.

now all I do is create (and the myriad of business tasks that help support that creating), and while it took a great unravelling, I am finally embodying connection in a multi-faceted, deeply holistic way. I allow myself to be moved - physically (move

My creative practice is the facilitator of my connection to the wild - to wild creatures, to wild lands, to my own wild heart. I hope that my work can also be a conduit to the spectacular wild for your own untamed heart too.

I made this just for you, so you can remind yourself daily of the amazing wonder that is you, and all you do for the world.

You are inherently creative, it is literally written into your DNA, you recreate yourself daily, and there is no limit to the beauty you bring to this world.

It is all intertwined, baby. I open my heart W I D E, I invite connection, because I know that with each interaction, with each opening, I am becoming a better being, I am building relationships based on reciprocity and respect, and I am taking respo

My thoughts have been on kinship this week. As I work on these endangered animals, I guess that is relevant - the collection is about making connection through seeing and being seen, and surely once that happens, once you are seen, once you have seen

The small brush marks continue, and some pencil strokes in amongst it all. The Beheld, Beloved collection is growing, more detail being added, and a date has been set for them to fly out to the world

My creative practice is the facilitator of my connection to the wild - to wild creatures, to wild lands, to my own wild heart. I hope that my work can also be a conduit to the spectacular wild for your own untamed heart too.

An act of reciprocity for the internalisation of wonder and curiosity of the wild world without that inspires me so. A beautiful dance, arms wide open, heart wide open.

Using pigment I connect all of this to a surface. Soon, the wonder and curiosity that was internal is manifest in the physical world as a piece of art.

My creative practice is the facilitator of my connection to the wild - to wild creatures, to wild lands, to my own wild heart. I hope that my work can also be a conduit to the spectacular wild for your own untamed heart too.

My heart and mind connect to the creature or the landscape I am honouring. My eyes connect my hand’s movement.

My devotion to my art, to my practice, flows from my heart and mind, down through my hand, and out my pencil or paintbrush and onto paper, panel, canvas.

My creative practice is the facilitator of my connection to the wild - to wild creatures, to wild lands, to my own wild heart. I hope that my work can also be a conduit to the spectacular wild for your own untamed heart too.

The act of creation, the act of art-making - something that did not exist before, pouring out of your hands, mind and heart. A gift.

Five years ago now, I decided to honour the curiosity and inextricable pull I had towards creating art.

Five years ago I gifted myself an artist's retreat in Scotland, and then travelled this magical land a little further afterwards, and when I say magical, I mean that I found magic. The real kind. The kind that makes every cell in your being vibrate w

The movement of my arm, of my body, as I draw or paint. The movement of my attention to my subject takes me out of and away from the quagmire, a release. The redirection to presence is intentional.

In scarcity then, I can find my way to abundance by being present, by deeply observing the lessons in presence that the wild world affords, by showing devotion to the creative practice that sustains my heart and mind. These things are all free (or re

One tiny moment at a time - appreciating the magic all around us in this wild world.

In abundance then, and with age, my roots into this earth grow ever deeper.

The act of creation, the act of art-making - something that did not exist before, pouring out of your hands, mind and heart. A gift.

Being immersed in unconnected connection, I realised just how splintered my attention is.

When I went for my walk this morning I felt the winter sunshine on my face, all golden yellow, a warm embrace in the chilli morning air. I got to be present to birdsong and chatter - wrens and red-head finches, waterfowl and ducks, magpies and butche

Beheld, Beloved came about organically. If you have followed me here even just a little while, you know I am slightly (very) obsessed with connecting to other living beings through the awe and wonder that is the eye.

The winter sun was shining, the air was crisp and cool, and like every time I set foot in this beautiful state I feel like I have come home.

The act of creation, the act of art-making - something that did not exist before, pouring out of your hands, mind and heart. A gift.

Each original artwork is made with deep compassion and mindfulness, an act of reciprocity and reverence.

A deep observation of a being’s eye in real time may bring me to tears (ask the cockatoos I have conversations with), and I am only slightly less emotional if the observation is through a photo.

A couple of weeks ago I got frustrated, stopped what I was doing, and journalled, going deep on what was bothering me, reminding myself of my goals, and…being kind to myself.

I realised I need to embrace the beginner's mind - there is so much room for joy and play there.

The wildlife honourings that I have made until now have focused the depth of detail on the eyes - this is where I want you to look first, this is where you will find the heart of the painting, this is where you get to explore your own connection to t

Each original artwork is made with deep compassion and mindfulness, an act of reciprocity and reverence.

I marvelled at the lush green growth of mosses that have been enjoying the incessant rain we've had. I watched water-hens (all glistening indigo feathers and burnt orange beaks and ridiculously long legs and huge feet) grazing the high grasses in the

I am painting, and all I can think about is painting, and I am dreaming about it nightly, and oh, how I am feeling so much more calm and full of hope again.

As I write, the magpies are filling my backyard with their uniquely Australian song, and oh, how those tunes fill my heart with joy. The sun is streaming through my studio window, low, and filtered through murraya leaves. The steam from my peppermint

I was turned to goo - but that process, while feeling like being torn asunder, is leading to metamorphosis. I am almost done inside my cocoon for now, I am emerging, unfurling. I am embracing less, but better.

I can pretty much guarantee my obsession with rendering eyes is never going to cease.

Outside the window the resident leaf-curl spider is deep into her morning web repairing, and my fluffy white kitty Seraphina is laying on the quilt I made her when she appeared in my yard (and heart) nearly 11 years ago. It is folded on top of my pen

I love working with coloured pencil, but oh, how my heart has been asking me to paint - and paint and paint. My perfectionism enjoys rearing her head here - oh, we battle daily - she is a dragon I am not trying to slay, but rather befriend, she is fi

there is so much excitement and childlike eager anticipation at all the possibilities to come. The turning of my own personal year, so much to be grateful for, so much curiosity and wonder to be had, so much connection still to make, so many opportun

You are that audience of one, you are who those love notes are addressed to. You inspire and delight me, your support and embrace of my work is a huge part of why I am drawn to do this.

In a moment, after I have signed off, I am going to watch the spider repair her web a little longer as I sip my tea, marvel at the rainbow dew jewels that sparkle off the gossamer threads, and think about my own life tapestry that I weave daily, that

I want to give you inspiration and beauty and kindness and connection. So I know it is time to focus on the essentials.

Our time here is short, and there is so much beauty to take in and celebrate. This is what I am taking into 48. Possibility, inspiration, compassion, curiosity, reciprocity.

I feel so inspired today. Went for a walk in the sunny 6 degrees C, and felt so ALIVE. As usual I personally greeted each bird that I came across - some are more responsive than others, but I never take a slight personally.

No matter the date or day or occasion, I hope you can find a moment to look out a window and open your heart to what you find there, even if it is only a tiny glimpse of blue sky between concrete buildings.

This is what gives me such energy, unexpected shared moments with other living creatures. It is awesome, in the truest meaning of the word.

I am enraptured by the classical portraiture and narrative painting of the pre-raphaelites and the romanticism movement

Give me pencils and paper and I can fly. I can become my subject. I remember my own wild heart, my connection to all the other wild things, and the beauty that is being present and alive.

I knew it, but hadn’t yet put voice to it, perhaps is the better way to put it. The urgency, the spiritual practice, the I create to live. Every day, more and more so, and it is beautiful and terrifying and all encompassing and not enough, all at on

I made this just for you, so you can remind yourself daily of the amazing wonder that is you, and all you do for the world.

I remember my own wild heart, my connection to all the other wild things, and the beauty that is being present and alive.

Give me pencils and paper and I can fly. I can become my subject.

Sometimes I think the need to create, the abundance and depth and intricacy of inspiration and idea, will not just overwhelm me, but devour me. And most days I want it to. I want to be in the belly of that whale, I want to be in a rabbit hole, deep i

The act of creation, the act of art-making - something that did not exist before, pouring out of your hands, mind and heart. A gift.

That something so delicate, so emotive, so intimate and intricate could exist delights me to no end

Wonderful and terrifying and the thing that gets me through the monotony of a day job I do not love. It puts luna sized moths to beating wings in my belly - let me out, let me in, let me!

In my creative process I find myself feeling into how the natural world informs the way that we live, how we communicate to the natural world, to each other, and to ourselves.

What world can I crawl safely into when I get home, what deep meditation and honouring can I absorb myself in when I sit at my easel, pencil in hand.

Marrying these tiny artworks - realistic and charming, mysterious and tender - with connection to the wild world, to our kin on the brink of extinction, is a way to bridge our compassion to those beings that need us most, to foster our kinship.

There are times to wonder and gnaw and ruminate on how what I do can serve - myself, my community, the divine creative river and well - and there are other times when I cannot do anything else if I don’t find something to translate through my eyes an

It has taken a few years, but it is who I am now, and what I think of every day and for every moment my mind is not actively occupied with something else - when can I get to the page, how did that artist do that, how can I do this, what would happen

It is such an honour to do this work. As I understand more about the creatures I make an offering to by studying them, having conversations with them, the more I understand my own connection to this web of life, and our need to remember reverence and

My heart and hand are just the conduit for the expression of this idea

To link your wild heart to theirs. Mementos of a deep and abiding love to ourselves and our connection to the natural world.

Putting pencil to paper, pigment scratches along surface, is a personal act of reciprocity, and I hope it inspires the same in you

Creativity, my ability and desire to create, is like water, or some sort of ethereal hollywood special effect that is neither air nor liquid, is somehow alive but inert without my active participation.

The act of creativity is a gift, an opportunity to be completely present. It is the present of presence.

Or dormant perhaps, rather than inert. Waiting. She is slippery and sticky - for me, creativity is most definitely feminine - she slides through my fingers,but stays on my skin; a thought rushing through my head, in one ear, out the other, a flash be

She is faery and other, and myth and legend and desire and fear and wonder She can’t be contained, no, that is true. And yet, she is contained in me.

Tell me how you are, what you are doing, what you wish you were doing instead. Tell me about the weather where you are, what wildness you can see outside your window (for there is always a bit of wildness, even in the concrete jungle). What have you

Wrapped in gold and ready for your (wild) heart. Beheld, Beloved collection - tiny art with big heart.

And we can share her, this creative force of nature - here have some of mine, and let me see some of yours - it is beyond beautiful, it is pure delight. We know all of this as kids, I am sure of it. We forget it as we get older, when we are told to p

When we are more connected to the world around us, the natural world around us, we can't help but live more fulfilled lives.

Working with this girl, a Tasmanian Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops), was profound and challenging but oh so rewarding. Her colours, the markings on her feathers, her emotive gaze, all so extraordinary. And learning more about her is such

So here is to you, here is to wonder and joy and deep connection with the natural world, here is to the gift of being present, and living on this incredible planet filled with soothing greens and blues, bird song and winds through leaves.

And when you finally see each other, really see each other, and you both know that she has always been both a part of you and apart from you (for too long), the connection is palpable, it is a coming home, a deep integration, a deep bubble of joy de

It is just another day. And each day is as precious as the next (except, perhaps, your birthday, when everyone should celebrate the beautiful gift that is you). These tiny paintings remind me to have the same presence as our other-than-human kin, lik

It is the intricacies of the natural world that are endlessly fascinating, endlessly inspiring, and as we, as I certainly, have become more disconnected from the natural world, I have, we, suffer.

Each day I work to strengthen my practice of being present, through wonder-walking, research and reading, and allowing myself the space and time to deeply observe, listen to the presence of everything, and honour the personhood of the creatures livin

Yes, nature can be cruel, but there is an eloquence, a sense, a pattern too deep and wide and narrow and small for us to know or see or comprehend, and yet the diversity is immense, it is an integral part of all systems, the differences are celebrate

And I am grateful for trees.
Today, I am reigniting my gratitude practice with intention.

as we take our farming to monocultures, and our cultures to monocultures as well, we stray further from the source, from the Creative Way, from the Feminine. And we suffer for it.

Working with this girl, a Tasmanian Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae castanops), was profound and challenging but oh so rewarding. Her colours, the markings on her feathers, her emotive gaze, all so extraordinary. And learning more about her is such

We were playing around an old, old cottage at the foot of Cradle Mountain, and I was imagining the cottage was mine. Sheltered from the wind, nestled into the side of hill, a little stream beside it, more than one resident wombat living under the por

This grackle print in his ornate frame glistened in the afternoon sun, his feathers aflame, his eyes of gold, and her innate sense of adventure palpable.

At the end of my street is a watershed that many small to medium marsh and lake birds call home. We get an occasional pelican for a visit, but mostly the birds are no larger than heron/egret/spoonbill size. With one exception. For quite a few years n

Their eyes connect with yours, and you feel seen in a way you had forgotten. A part of something greater, connected deeply to root and branch, at one with the creatures of the forest. Hearts beating as one, divine embodiment, inspired, curious, in ba

My work is all about adoration, evoking connection, tiny reminders of the preciousness of the life represented.

We deserve to feel that deep connection, to remember where we come from, who our feathered kin are. To remember we were wild and free once, and show reverence for that memory and the kin that still are.

My work is all about adoration, evoking connection, tiny reminders of the preciousness of the life represented.

I have been looking over the work I have done this year, and despite all the fear and uncertainty in the world at large, it has been a year of immense personal growth for me.

This day is just as important as the next day, and the next day, no matter what the calendar says is attributed to that particular rise and fall of the sun. It is no more in-between than it is important and to be celebrated.

That focus on what is coming up (or not coming up) means I am not connecting to the present. If I don't choose to be present, it becomes too easy a habit, and I find myself repeating those routines of disconnect to the world around me that was a part

Close my eyes. Breathe in. Right now there are doves cooing, the distant sound of a currawong, the ever hopeful male koel wooing it sounds like two females. I can hear water running down the gutter. I have sandalwood incense burning, it smells wonder

There is a light breeze through my window, and it is lightly caressing my sunburnt arms (too much time in the pool in the hot Australian sun), and it feels so wonderful. I have some beeswax lotion with lavender on my burnt sienna coloured arms, made

I use imagination constantly in my art practice. While the work grounds me and allows me to be present, I can also weave in imagination at the same time - I can imagine what it might be like to stroke fur or feather, but I can also imagine what it mi

Natalie Eslick is an Australian Fine Artist and Creative Guide specializing in deepening our relationship with the natural world.

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I acknowledge the Darkinjung people as Traditional Custodians of the land on which I live. I pay respects to the Elders, past and present, and recognise their continuing connection and contribution to this land.

Art is my Heart and Work, but I am also an inclusive feminist and human rights scholar.

I support the LGBTQ+ community and believe that Indigenous and Black Lives Matter. Full stop.

Copyright 2025 Natalie Eslick. All rights reserved

Photography by Natalie Eslick and Kelsea Midson

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