Bio
photo by Natalie Bryt 2008
I was born in New York City in 1965 and grew up the middle of five children, in New Mexico, New Jersey and New York. I studied photography with Christopher James and art history with Simon Schama in addition to studying English and American Literature before graduating in 1987 from Harvard College.
After working as a freelance photographer for a few years, for the J. Crew catalog and other clients, I started a family with my husband Bartley Bryt. I wrote and illustrated Baby Love: A Tradition of Calm Parenting (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1998) based on what my mother, a third-generation midwife from Holland, taught me about taking care of babies.
To develop a lifelong interest in painting, I then studied oil painting and pastels with Sharon Sprung, Michele LiCalsi, Lorraine Shemesh and Wolf Kahn, and printmaking with Kathy Caraccio, at the National Academy School of Fine Arts in New York. I am currently studying drawing and sculpture at the New York Studio School with John Lees, Bruce Gagnier and Garth Evans.