I first commissioned a painting from Natasha Kissell way back in the early 2000s. It remains part of my private collection and above all is much loved. So, I was delighted to recently visit Natasha in her Brighton Studio. Whilst, planning to show more of her colourful work later this year, I couldn’t resist bringing Striped Deckchairs home with the aim of introducing you to Natasha’s painting.

So with the sunshine pouring into these fabulous Spring days, this simple image reminds me that Summer is coming and happy times are never far.

- Nick Crean, April 2025

Natasha Kissell (b. 1978) is a British painter based in Brighton, working primarily with oil on canvas or aluminium.

Kissell’s work often explores modernist architecture set within imaginative landscapes that exude a sense of aspiration and evoke wonder. Whether depicting man-made structures or the delicate intricacies of the natural world, her paintings offer a vision of utopian beauty, reflecting human solitude within majestic settings.

Drawing inspiration from the romantic allegorical landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, among others, Kissell brings elements of art history into her work, creating sublime realms that reinvent traditional landscape painting. Through her lens, she reveals whimsical and curious worlds that invite the viewer into an alternative reality.

Kissell’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as ‘No New Thing Under the Sun’ at the Royal Academy of Art, London (2010), and ‘Painting the Glass House: Artists Revisit Modern Architecture’ at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut, Yale School of Architecture Gallery, and Mills College Art Museum in California (2008–2009).