Nickanack

I live in Southern California and go by 'Nicky'. I have been drawing and painting
since I could remember. It would be more realistic to ask me to stop breathing
for a long stretch of time then to go without my art. Really I do not create with
intention and purpose, it flows out of me in a rush and often it is all I can do to
keep up with it.

I have over a decade's worth of experience with special needs children and this
led to my using a texture medium on many of my paintings. I like making
artwork that they can be encouraged to go up and touch the original. It makes
details a nightmare but the look on their face when they can run their fingers
over the canvas is worth it. I also am fond of metallic pigments though both
make photographing the original rather tricky.

It is not only art which provides growth and direction. Music has played a
pivotal role in my work. In fact each painting is produced to a single song
playing repeatedly to capture the mood of that moment in time. Reading was an
even larger contribution. From the time I could pick up a book it spurred fits of
imagination to my art. Shakespeare's playful sprites and plucky characters, the
raw expression of humanity in the classic myths of cultures around the world,
and the enchanting sailor's recounts of mermaids and the glories of the sea.
Animation, fashion, art nouveau, all possessing sweeping lines that are
deceptively simple were equally influential.
These treasures built up in my imagination until attempting anything but
allowing it to rush forth was ludicrous. Every painting demands it come out
exactly as it does, my own opinions rarely mean anything.
The result is movement, emotion, and for the image to have been fun to create.

I am blessed with a wonderful family. As it is also a very large family I will not
have the space to include them all here so I will mention the main three.
My little sister Stevie Lee is a very close companion to me, second only to my
mother. I am convinced there is no one more wonderful then my mother as she
is everything I aspire to be as a person. My father Stuart has also been a
fantastic mentor and the two of them together possess the most phenomenal
minds I have ever encountered. I am honored to call them both friend.