Born in Tula, Russia, Natasha started drawing at the age of two. Her raw natural talent soon caught the attention of some elderly painters from a nearby village, who taught her the basics of color theory, perspective landscape, figure drawing and watercolor technique. Coming from a theater family, she traveled extensively as a child. Before her tenth birthday, she was brought to Moscow, where she passed entrance exams for one of five state-run art schools. After studying there for four years and graduating with honors, she was accepted into the childrenšs division of the prestigious Moscow Art Academy, where she seriously studied academic drawing and painting.

In the Eighties, Natasha and her family emigrated from the Soviet Union to Southern California. Though the language barrier was a problem at first, Natasha learned English quickly. By the time she was in high school, shešd also started to study in a pre-college program at Otis Parsons Academy of Design, majoring in illustration. In the summer following her sophomore year, she spent a summer in Paris working one-on-one with French artists in various disciplines.