The Birth of the “Bling Chicken” – How Natalie Fraser found freedom through her art.

Back in January 2019 Natalie’s husband’s birthday was just around the corner. She wanted to buy him a piece of art to celebrate, but it was out of her price range. So, ever the optimist, she decided to have a go at painting him something similar herself! And the rest, as they say, is history. She had found her passion, and threw herself wholeheartedly into creating art.
 

“I've always been a dynamic and creative personality type. A bit weird and loud, I'm told! I've never been one to just sit still and watch while everyone else has all the fun. I like to be front and centre. Creating Art, in any form, allows me the freedom to be myself, in all my weird glory!”

Natalie loves to explore different styles and techniques. While creating her art, her focus is on the reaction she wants to elicit from her audience. Does she want them to laugh, to feel peaceful, to feel energised, to reflect? Natalie aims to create art that evokes a feeling...that is what she is passionate about.
Natalie and her husband, two kids, two cats and “big boofhead” dog Sophie live by the river in Bassendean. She often takes Sophie for walks along the river, observing the bird life that become the inspiration for her paintings. Natalie loves painting birds as she thinks they have the funniest personalities.
The history of the Bling Chicken – in Natalie’s own words
 
I'm one of these weird people who secretly gets a kick out of 'Dad jokes' and the good old 'play on words'. It was several years ago now that I first became aware of the term 'Bin Chicken' and the negative connotations implied by the nickname given to the Sacred Ibis - the bird famous for pillaging overflowing dumpsters and bins.
 
I wasn't aware up until that point that the bird was quite so reviled - it always seemed more of an Eastern States sort of animosity! One day, after studying the bird doing what it seems to love - going through the trash, I started playing around with the words in my head, and soon Bin chicken became Bling chicken.
 
It seemed obvious to me that I had stumbled onto something great! A Bin chicken with a penchant for sparkly bling! The story then evolved into an entity - Gina, the elite Bling Chicken from the Western Suburbs, digging for treasure amongst the trash.
 
While I want my Bling Chickens to amuse my audience, I also want to highlight a few issues going on in our society - increasing urbanisation and a loss of wetlands, living in a 'throwaway' culture of fast food packaging and inadequate recycling, and perhaps if you read between the lines, a few social injustice issues might jump out at you, but nothing too heavy - more like a subtle dig at the Australian class structure that apparently doesn't exist!
 
Generally, I see Bin Chickens as your quintessential 'Aussie Battler'. Since being turfed from her natural environment with increasing urbanisation, this bird has had to find new ways to not only survive but thrive. Bin Chickens should be celebrated as the Aussie icons that they are, and hopefully my series of Bling Chicken paintings (more to follow soon) might help to highlight the environmental issues we face, in a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek fashion - and then, we might actually start talking about it.
 
Natalie’s debut at First At Upmarket
 
This Sunday 19th June marks Natalie’s debut at Perth Upmarket. Our dedicated First At Upmarket allows first-timers to exhibit for a reduced fee, amongst fellow artists and designers in Hackett Hall. Natalie chose to exhibit her art at Perth Upmarket due to our reputation of being “the best of the best”. She feels that our attendees will best appreciate her art, with an eye for quality on-trend products. Natalie is proud to be a local West Australian artist and recognises Perth Upmarket’s support of this.
"Supporting a small business like mine helps us to move away from the mass produced and impersonal products that we tend to fill our lives with. Buying from local small businesses means that you are buying a piece of OUR story. A piece of the heart and soul we have put into creating something for you to love. Every piece I have created is special to me and it is my dearest wish that it becomes something that my customers come to love and treasure too".
You can find Natalie, Gina the Bling Chicken, and her range of abstract art at this Sunday’s Perth Upmarket.
Sunday June 19th at UWA from 10am to 4pm.