Natalie Niblack lives life as an artist, citizen scientist and worried human

A few miles away from a heavily trafficked exit off I-5, a 122 year-old bunkhouse once used by dike workers sits clinging to the edge of the north fork of the Skagit River. It seems to defy our present-day world. This is the home and workspace of painter and ceramic artist Natalie Niblack. 

It was a hot late August afternoon when I went to visit. Niblack's faithful dog, Lillybelle, ushered me through a screened door to her studio. A fan sent a cool breeze throughout the cabin, blending fragrances from her garden with the sweet aroma of fresh oil paint. 

Her studio is in urgent climate-change emergency mode and Niblack is grieving. Her walls and shelves are lined with paintings, drawings and ceramics, clearly illustrating the all too apparent consequences of our human negligence. Several painted canvases depict horrifying scenes of exploding trains, pipelines and ruined watersheds. They are born from the egregious harm the fossil fuel industry is having on the biosphere. A realization that only a mile away train tracks carrying toxic materials to and from the local refinery puts her home squarely in the blast zone. 

Across the room another series of paintings references an unsettling neglect for our coastal margins. These works reflect a world of plastic debris, floating and submerged, carelessly settling into the natural habitats of our marine life.

While not painting and sculpting, Niblack is a citizen scientist. She and fellow artist and frequent collaborator Ann Chadwick Reid are stewards at the Padilla Bay Reserve, gathering information for local surveys on marine debris, heron foraging and beached birds. Volunteering for local environmental research groups has directed Niblack's artistic focus to the plight of our bird populations. "If we were to incur an additional three degrees of global warming, 80 species of birds from the Skagit Valley would not return." says Niblack. With migratory routes severely impacted by regional fires, pollution and global warming, an estimated one-third of bird populations are not returning from their migrations. 

She has recently concluded a body of work to be exhibited at the Museum of Northwest Art as a part of an upcoming climate change show. Her installation "66 Birds/3 Degrees'' examines the plight of 66 Western Washington birds that are at risk if global warming is not mitigated. Amongst others, the Vaux's Swift, Rufous Hummingbird, Goshawk, Spotted Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl stare back at you from her walls. She carefully sources her information from the National Audubon Society,

"I want to have direct eye contact between you and the bird. When you have that kind of contact with another creature, you have to take some responsibility or relationship with that creature. I think about the impact our collective actions are having on all these creatures and maybe on the lives of all other creatures." Niblack begins to tear up at this thought and Lillybelle, sensing her sadness, jumps up on all fours to give her a doggy hug.

We move on to another part of her studio. Here she makes her ceramic work. Lifting the dust cover, she reveals carefully modeled heads of Donald Trump, Kim Jung Un, Rudolph Gulliani and Mitch McConnell, amongst others. These heads are realistic, oversized versions of outrageous ugliness. Clearly she doesn't feel optimistic about our political system either. Niblack makes no apologies for the uncomfortable nature of her work. Much like her paintings, these ceramic heads are confrontational and intensely relevant. Indeed, this is the point. 

It is early evening now. As I leave Niblack's studio and home, I hear the sound of plates and cutlery being laid out by her partner Mick as he prepares dinner in the kitchen. She gives me some yellow wax beans from the garden. I take a final glance at this bucolic stretch of Skagit Valley farmland – less than 13 miles from the local solid waste transfer station. 

Natalie's installation can be seen at the Museum of Northwest Art's upcoming exhibition: "Surge: Mapping Transition, Displacement and Agency in Times of Climate Change," Oct. 14–Jan. 21, 2024.

Holgate is an artist. Her last show, with glass sculptor Steve Klein, "A Precarious Edge," exhibited at the Museum of Northwest Art early in 2022.