Meet Natalie Mortell

We were lucky to catch up with Natalie Mortell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

Hi, thanks so much for having me! Confidence definitely wasn’t something I started out with; I had to gain it over time. Attending college for animation was a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows in the perception of my own artistic ability. By the time graduation rolled around, I felt incredibly conflicted and lost, as I had let my confidence and value be determined by what other people thought of my art. I had lost that childlike confidence and passion I once had due to discouraging remarks that I received in regards to me and the work I was creating for my future prospects. My mental health was at an all-time low, and I worked tirelessly as a way to prove myself and my worth.

Outwardly, it seemed as if nothing had changed, but I questioned every decision I made and didn’t trust myself to create “good”, meaningful art anymore. I wish I could say that I was able to find the strength within to pick myself back up, but the truth is it was the people closest to me who helped me find the strength to keep creating and find meaning in my work. They reminded me to look back and acknowledge all of the progress I had made, and how much more I could accomplish in the future. My friends and peers became my community, and my support network. They helped me to find meaning within my work and within myself.

It was incredibly difficult to rebuild my confidence after that, and I’m so thankful for my support system as they’ve helped me to find a place for myself in this industry. Finding community in your peers, and for me especially, finding support and solidarity with other LGBTQIA+ creatives helps to give me confidence that my work and creative voice is worth hearing too. Confidence is not something that you gain overnight – it’s curated through time and experience as you grow into yourself and your creative identity.

Gaining work experience has also been a steadfast way for me to gain confidence. If there’s anything I’m not sure how to do, I try to learn from others around me and challenge myself to become acquainted with it. Especially in this industry, you have to jump around a lot and embrace the unexpected. I also find strength in knowing that no one knows everything – there is always something that can be learned from each situation or experience – and many people are more than happy to help should you need assistance!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Currently, I work in the stop motion animation industry, where I jump between the puppet and animation departments working as a fabricator and animator respectively. Sometimes I even pop into the art department to assist with set pieces, so there’s always something new. My specialty lies in working with various fibers or soft materials, such as needle felting, flocking, furs, and foam. I feel it creates such a beautiful, textural quality when photographed in camera. I also adore creature (specifically quadruped) animation! It’s what inspired me to pursue stop motion in the first place, and it makes up a large portion of my portfolio. Any opportunity I have to fabricate or animate any sort of creature character is such a treat, whether it’s for a gig or a personal project.

One of my favorite aspects of work is how varied and different each gig is from another. Each project requires a slightly different skill set, which means work is never dull. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to work on a project for a tv show that I used to watch as a kid, which is super neat and exciting! Working in the animation industry has also given me the opportunity to meet and befriend so many incredibly talented and wonderful people. I’m actually creating an art shop with a colleague of mine called The Moonwood Market! It definitely has a nature-witchy aesthetic to it, so if that’s something that interests you feel free to check it out! We’ll be tabling soon at local art markets as well as opening an online store, where we will sell keychains, stickers, prints, and various small felted animals! You can find us on Instagram at @themoonwoodmarket.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities that I’ve found to be most important to develop as an artist are resilience, adaptability, and humility.
Resilience – Work can be plentiful or far in between. It’s not uncommon to wrap on one project and not have one lined up right away – or at all, for a period of time. This can be incredibly discouraging and a source of anxiety, but it’s important to keep creating art and reaching out to local studios and industry friends. Create and find new meaning through your art when you are in between projects, and take comfort in the fact that everyone has been in your shoes. Stay connected, and find community in your peers!

Adaptability — In the LA stop motion scene there are a lot of smaller, indie studios, and you could be faced with varied smaller projects, each requiring a different skill set. Being adaptable presents you with more employment opportunities, especially at smaller studios where there isn’t as much demand for focus on specialized tasks. Being open and willing to learn makes you an asset to your team and lets them know you are more than happy to adapt and learn on the job!

Humility —- The stop motion industry is such a wonderful community of people from all different backgrounds. Not everyone went to school for art or animation, so it’s important to be understanding and empathetic that everyone is coming from a different place. Each person is incredibly talented with a unique skill set, and staying reverential enables you to learn from each experience you have. There is always knowledge to be learned from a project and from your peers! Also, at the end of the day – your coworkers are your friends and an amazing resource, and building a good rapport can help you work on more awesome projects with them!

Going out and gaining experience, whether that be on industry projects, short films or even personal work is a great way to improve on these skills! Surrounding yourself with a great community of creatives can be incredibly inspiring and motivating, and helps you to become familiar with different areas of the pipeline that you otherwise wouldn’t.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I think it really depends on you and what your goals are! In my personal experience, I have found success in being more well-rounded in the LA stop motion scene. Being flexible and excited to learn new skills has opened up more doors for me in regards to employment opportunities. I originally moved out to LA with the hopes of being an animator, but landed my first gig in the puppet department thanks to the fabrication work I had in my portfolio as well as my eagerness to learn on the job.

Being well-rounded can also make you a valuable asset to any team. You learn to be flexible and adapt no matter what might be thrown at you, which is so important when working at smaller studios. I also think it gives you a better understanding of different steps within the production pipeline. You have the freedom to be a little more creative when problem-solving and being well-rounded allows you to experiment with new workflows in really interesting ways.
However, it is more than okay to have a specialty as well. As I’ve mentioned, I like fiber arts and quadruped animation, which makes work even more exciting when able to land a project that has an overlap of interest!

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