There’s something about painting the ocean that is deeply personal and restorative for me — a way to lose myself in its movement, power and calm, and to reconnect with the healing presence of nature.

A smiling woman with blue eyes and blonde hair wearing a denim jacket, standing against a blurred ocean wave background.

Hi,

I’m Natalie Sanders, the artist behind Sea + Sitka.

Guided by a lifelong love of the ocean, I hold a PhD in Marine Biology and have authored a natural history book on orcas. My research has taken me to extraordinary places — from the coral reefs of Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Great Barrier Reef, to marine mammal surveys in the Black Sea, North Atlantic and the Pacific Northwest.

Since becoming a mother, I’ve stepped back from fieldwork and begun exploring my creative side. Painting has become a way for me to reconnect with the ocean. Vancouver Island is my soul home, where Sitka spruces cling to the shoreline and ocean and earth become one. Sea + Sitka.

I paint mostly with acrylics creating abstract, ocean-inspired pieces that explore the ocean’s vast power, depths and layers. A force that humbles, grounds, and calms all at once.

I hope my work offers you a moment of connection with our blue planet, and a space to pause.

Natalie X

“The sea once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

Jacques Yves Cousteau

A woman snorkeling in clear blue water over a coral reef, with trees visible on the shoreline above the water.
A scenic view of a river with a forested shoreline and misty mountains in the background, under a cloudy sky.
A woman wearing a red waterproof jacket, black gloves, and sunglasses on a sailboat, holding onto the rigging, with a coastal landscape in the background.