A Walk Down Memory Lane

Hi, my name is Natalie Groves and I am excited to begin sharing watercolor illustrations with you.

I was not excited about sharing anything watercolor a couple months ago. You see, about 2 years ago I was working as an artist for Trader Joe's Grocery store in Santa Barbara, CA. Thats me on the bottom left :)

I was offered the artist's position after working as a crew member for 2 years. I accepted with no art training, hoping to rekindle my childhood love for drawing.

My job was to create fun loving, informational signs that featured the season's products and touted Trader Joe's all around good cheer. I believe that Trader Joe's art sets them apart!

I thought my first couple chalkboards (not pictured) were pretty good! Until I looked back on them after 3 years of experience. (That gave me hope when I started cranking out mediocre watercolors..... they will get better.)


A typical day started with finding a product (or group of products) on my desk to go up on an end display the next day. Example: Blue Fin Chardonnay.
The bad news: before starting a new chalk board an old one would need to be erased and a new chalkboard sprayed on.

I thank Trader Joe's for giving me an invaluable experience. I learned how to create under pressure, meet hard deadlines and catch vision. The most important development was my style. All this while working in a great environment with fun people and getting paid to do art. No student loans! yay!

A walk down memory lane, with maiden name Cetti.