The Wild World Of Nat Morley

Gloucestershire artist Nat Morley’s woodcut prints and oil paintings are as distinctive as the artist herself

Inhabited by bold, characterful creatures, Nat Morley’s work can be seen on book covers, fine art prints, wrapping paper, soft furnishings and more… and she can even lay claim to being the artist behind Amnesty International’s best-selling Christmas card. Having spent time with and fighting for the causes of the Aborigine people in Western Australia, her work continues to convey a strong human – and other animal – rights message, but with her trademark playful twist.

With a new solo show coming up at Tetbury’s Goods Shed, we met up with Nat in her Chalford studio and gallery to find out more…

The natural world is very much at the heart of your work, Nat…

Yes, my obsession with wildlife started very young. As a young ornithologist, I learned all the birds in the British Bird Book, aged seven. My granddad was a big influence, teaching me to draw, and he too was very into birdwatching. My heroes were David Attenborough, Jacques Cousteau and Gerald Durrell, so I probably should have studied biology, but it was the era of Live Aid and I wanted to work for one of the big charities. I ended up studying Geography at St John’s College in Oxford, and did my dissertation on Aboriginal land rights.

Tell us about the time you spent living with an Aboriginal community…