Meet the Artist

Becky Ullah is both an artist and a former NHS doctor. She also plays a very large part in NotFine's origin story. Having this amazing artist on board with us is an honour, and we hope you love her work as much as we do.

Becky's creative journey began long before medicine, but for fifteen years her artistic voice lay dormant beneath the demands of her career. It was only when burnout, physical pain, and the weight of systemic pressure forced her to stop that she began painting again. First, painting was a form of defiance and then evolved into an act of renewal.

Her work bridges anatomy and nature, science and emotion, precision and softness. Each piece reflects the intricate balance between what keeps us alive juxtaposed to what makes us feel alive.

The Medicinal Heart | Watercolour & Ink

About This Piece

“Painting The Medicinal Heart was, quite literally, healing for me- both physically and emotionally.”

Becky’s fascination with the human body and the beauty of anatomy runs deep. From her early fascination with medical illustrations to her years working as a doctor. Inspired by artists like Tabaimo, she became captivated by the intersection of florals and anatomy- how both can represent fragility, resilience, and renewal.

In The Medicinal Heart, the plants are not decorative; they are symbolic. Each flower connects to the organ it blooms from; foxgloves for digoxin and poppies for pain relief and heart medication, reminding us that nature and medicine are forever intertwined.

This painting became a personal turning point. Created while she was recovering from a slipped disc, Becky painted lying on the floor, using her pain as fuel for creation. The day she went into spinal surgery, someone ordered a print of The Medicinal Heart, a sign that her new path as an artist had already begun.

Day 3 | Mixed Media

Day 3 began as an attempt to process pain that words could no longer contain. Becky created it eight years after her IVF journey, when the grief had softened but the memories remained vivid. Each layer of paint became a quiet reckoning with loss, hope, and endurance.

The work reflects the silent rituals of IVF: the endless counting, the medical precision, the fragile belief that this cycle might be the one. It carries the emotional exhaustion of hormone injections in hidden spaces, of balancing compassion for others with unbearable personal pain, of continuing to show up in a world that moves on regardless.

"Then there were the comments: “Don’t you think you should call it a day?” or “You’ll fall pregnant when you stop stressing.” Words that leave marks you do not forget."

Through gentle abstraction and intuitive movement, Day 3 marks a shift in Becky’s style. What began as clumsy expression became fluent emotional language. The piece captures both the ache of uncertainty and the resilience of a body and mind determined to heal.

What emerged was more than art. It was a conversation starter, an invitation to speak openly about IVF, miscarriage, and longing. Day 3 is both deeply personal and universally resonant; a painting for anyone who has lived between hope and heartbreak.

Etopisode | Mixed Media

Etoposide marks a turning point in Becky Ullah’s practice, where her fascination with botanical illustration evolved into something more instinctive and expressive. After years of creating detailed medicinal botanicals, she began to feel confined by the precision of that style. While the earlier works reflected an era of scientific discovery, Becky felt compelled to move toward a freer, more emotional form of storytelling.

This piece belongs to her series exploring cancer treatments derived from plants. The subject carries an intensity that demanded looser movement and bolder contrasts. Through sweeping strokes and splashes of light and dark, Etoposide channels both the brutality of treatment and the beauty of human endurance. It is at once visceral and deeply empathetic.

The painting also reflects a growing awareness of how her work connects across communities. Scientists recognised their world in her art. Teachers saw opportunities for learning. Patients and pharmacists found comfort in seeing the origins of medicines they had lived with for years. Each response reinforced Becky’s belief that art and science are not opposites, but collaborators in understanding life and healing.

Etoposide embodies that collaboration. It is both an exploration of chemistry and an act of compassion, proof that creativity can bridge the distance between data and feeling. In honour of that spirit, Becky donates a portion of proceeds from this collection to Cancer Research UK, ensuring that art inspired by medicine continues to give something back to it.