Park West Auctioneer Spotlight: Ramon and Natalie Prescod
Park West collectors often tell us that the highlight of their collecting experience is the lasting friendship they develop with our Art Teams. That’s why, every month, we take time to dive into the lives of our top auctioneers to learn more about them!
For our July auctioneer spotlight, we’d like you to meet the amazing auctioneer duo Ramon and Nathalie! Ramon and Nathalie have been with Park West since 2015 and have helped collectors around the world discover artwork they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives. They recently shared with us some of their favorite Park West moments, how they became international art auctioneers, and talk to us about their life when not on the seven seas.
Learn more about Ramon and Nathalie in our new Q&A below!
Please list your previous ships as an Auctioneer:
Norwegian (NCL) Sky, NCL Sun, NCL Jewel, Celebrity Summit
Please list your current ship as an Auctioneer:
Celebrity Silhouette
Where is your hometown?
Ramon: St. James, Barbados
Nathalie: Novi Sad, Serbia
Ramon and Nathalie in the onboard Park West Gallery standing by works from Romero Britto and Kre8.
When did you start working as an international art auctioneer?
Ramon: I started with Park West Gallery in 2015. I worked onboard cruise ships in the gift shops as a liquor specialist for a couple years, but it was on the Norwegian Dawn where I met an auctioneer couple who told me all about the exciting adventures they had been on with Park West, from hosting exciting art auctions, to traveling around the world and helping cruisers collect works of art they never imagined they would ever own. I think this is what really convinced me to join Park West Gallery.
Nathalie: My career with Park West Gallery started the same time as Ramon’s in 2015. As a matter of fact, we joined the company as a couple after having met on the Norwegian Dawn almost a year before. What really inspired me to join Park West Gallery was my history of working backstage on movie and television sets in Serbia. I always admired the different ways actors and actresses could get their messages across to the public and I believe it’s very similar with what artists do through their canvases, brushes, paints and creativity.
Ramon conduction an auction with some special Park West collectors.
Who is your favorite Park West artist and why?
Ramon: Wow! Great question! I admire and appreciate the works of many artists and sometimes I’m awestruck at their technical abilities. However, I would have to say that Michael (The Olive Guy) Godard would be my favorite artist. The reason being is because I find his style of art extremely relatable, when you view his art you will see olives, strawberries, grapes or even sharks portray human emotions from joy and happiness to love and lust. What I find most fascinating is that almost every time when guests walk into our onboard gallery and see one of Michael Godard’s works, they stop and have a chat between each other about what the crazy olives or strawberries are up to.
Nathalie: My favorite artist would be Romero Britto because his artworks exude happiness and always portray a sense inspiration. It’s just a joy to view his works and being a collector of Britto myself I can personally share the joy of collecting his artworks with our clients onboard.
What is your favorite client memory?
Ramon and Nathalie: For us it’s really difficult to choose a specific client memory, we’ve had many amazing moments from collectors over the years from helping clients celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries to parents celebrating their kids finally moving out of the house. However, speaking of anniversaries, one couple comes to mind – Judi and David who travelled with us onboard the Celebrity Summit a few years ago and were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. We figured that it would be a fantastic idea to have their portraits painted by one of the most famous artists of our lifetime Peter Max. They both agreed to have it done and to this day we remain great friends who chat relatively often about which ships we will be on to see if our paths will cross sometime in the future.
Out of all of your adventures around the world, what has been your favorite port?
Ramon: Australia! Exciting ports such as Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane all had a different feel and something different to offer. Sometimes I would choose to stay onboard and rest after having a long day at sea the day before, but when we arrived to Australia I was out and about at every port of call.
Nathalie: I would have to say Havana, Cuba would be one of my favorite ports I’ve ever visited. I must say the culture of the Cuban people caught my attention. However, what I really enjoyed was traveling around Havana it was really like a time wrap over there, they have really cool vintage cars they used for sightseeing and art and music is literally everywhere. I definitely had a fantastic time there.
Adventures in Australia!
What does a day/life look like when you’re at home or not working?
Ramon: Besides the normal such as spending time with family and friends while I’m home on vacation, I’m either doing one of three things: gaming, watching sports or traveling. I’m a huge fan of online gaming, which means you can catch me playing games such as Fifa 21 or Call of Duty: Warzone on my Playstation 4. Secondly, when it comes to sports I’m a die-hard supporter of the European football team Real Madrid and I try not to miss a minute of any game they play. Last but not least, this may sound strange but Nathalie and I love to travel whilst on vacation, many of our close friends and family think we’re crazy for doing this because we travel for work for almost 10 months out of the year. However, we choose a place we’ve never been to before, pack our bags and we’re on our way!
Nathalie: I really enjoy going to the gym, playing sports in general such as airsoft and volleyball, reading books and spending time outside. Most recently, we added a beautiful German Shepherd puppy to our family and it was one of the best decisions we’ve made. We can’t wait to get back home to spend more time with her.
A magnificent visit to a statue of Francisco Goya!
Tell us one thing about living and working at sea that would surprise most people.
Ramon: I believe that if you’ve never lived on cruise ships before you would be surprised by the incredible friendships that you are able to develop with people from completely different cultural backgrounds in a very short time. I have made many friends from almost all corners of the globe over the 7 years I’ve been onboard, but what I always find most difficult is when it comes time to say goodbye. Simply because you never know if you’ll ever see that person again.
Nathalie: One thing that would surprise many people would be the amount of different languages you could learn from your colleagues and crew members. I think I know how to say “Hello, how are you? Thank you and goodbye” in about 10 different languages and I’m still trying to learn more!
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Interested in learning more about starting a career hosting art auctions on cruise ships? Visit Art Auctions Abroad for more details.
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