When walking through the gallery of the Arts Council of Fayetteville | Cumberland County visitors may hear the quiet sounds of music, the scratching of pencils, or gentle brush strokes of oil paint on canvas. Rounding the corner into the small room off the main gallery, they’ll be greeted by dancing figures, growling tigers, and colorful flowers.
In the center of the room, quietly working on a large easel, an artist works on her next piece. While the tigers may look like they will jump toward them, guests can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they will stay on the canvas when current South Eastern Artist in Residence Lady Natalia Perez Lozano invites them into her studio to talk about art.
Lady Natalia Perez Lozano is originally from Colombia and has lived in Fayetteville for over a decade. She has been an artist as long as she can remember.
Throughout her childhood art felt like a game to be played through color and imagery. When she began studying through workshops and apprenticeships with established artists, she learned to focus her craft through individual techniques. She remembers honing skills on specific media, like the oil paint she currently uses, but also elements of painting, like color and texture.
Perez Lozano also studied fashion design, and the female figure remains a central force in her work.
“I think the piece of art always reflects the personality of the artist in some way or another,” she says.
Animals and nature also appear throughout her pieces. Her current series focuses on interaction and instinct, particularly on how emotions play a role in human nature. When creating a painting, Perez Lozano uses an organized, almost academic means of processing her next move.
“Let’s take something like [the idea of] empowerment. I close my eyes… and I see this power woman. She is sitting down, relaxed. She’s like ‘I am being myself. I OWN my life.’”
From this initial idea, she researches historical works, sketches ideas, and builds a color theory all before a drop of paint hits the canvas.
It’s this approach to creativity that Perez Lozano hopes to share with the community. As part of her six-month stint as the Arts Council SEAR, she will present two workshops for community engagement. She already knows she wants to share her insight into honing the creative process to work for participants.
She hopes attendees can take her ideas and adapt to their own process, whether the mission is art or otherwise.
While art has always been her mission, Perez Lozano had some initial hesitancy in applying for the Southeastern Artist in Residence program, but it quickly melted when she saw the potential benefits to her work. SEAR provides a mid-career artist an opportunity to lean into their craft through dedicated time, space, and funds.
Perez Lozano has already enjoyed more time focusing on her work and the opportunity to speak with the community. She looks forward to completing her series and showing them in August, with a constant mind to her goal: helping to educate and empower the community to feel through art.
“I want to make people feel something. To be moved. A little bit of the artist’s sensibility. You can like it. You can not like it. I just want you to feel something!”
For more information about SEAR and Lady Natalia Perez Lozano, visit https://www.wearethearts.com/sear.

(Photo: Lady Natalia Perez Lozano is the new Southeastern Artist in Residence with the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. Photo courtesy of the Arts Council)