Nicky’s paintings are essentially optimistic and uplifting. She achieves this particularly through her use of colour, which is such a strong influence on mood and atmosphere. She originally trained as a designer (BA hons Fashion, Central St Martins 1993) and the influence of her love of textiles can be seen in her use of intense colour, texture and pattern.
Nicky and her family have lived in Hindhead, Surrey for 20 years, and watching the wild local landscape change through the seasons in all weathers allows her to notice new and unexpected tree colours in different light, with many coloured skies. Her expressive tree paintings are in acrylic, with the addition of metal leaf and various mediums to add texture and shimmer.
Drawing the human figure, trying to capture moments in time and changing light is an interest that has always run parallel to Nicky’s other work. She works primarily in collage, often choosing paper that suggests a story or a journey, either from the model’s own life or her own. Running a small life drawing group means that all her figurative work can be from life. As a woman drawing women there’s a different emphasis to the life drawing process, with an empathy for the essential feeling of the pose. The comfort of the model is important to the resulting artwork, and Nicky always works at the same height as the model so that the viewer is never looking down dominantly on the female form.
Collage is also Nicky’s medium of choice for her floral still life works, which are bright and bold, and include scraps of drawings from her studio and recycled and found papers.