About the Artist
Nicole Russell is an award winning artist who loves painting in oil and watercolour. Her oil paintings show the characteristic work of the palette knife and are done with a heavy impasto layer. On the other hand she paints with watercolours because of their transparency and fluidity.
Nicole likes to paint what she sees and loves to paint outdoors (en plein air) or, when the weather is not favourable, she enjoys painting still lifes in her studio. During the painting process she watches the light reflecting between the different objects and emphasizes these light reflections in her paintings. Also, her paintings show strong contrast. Many of Nicole’s paintings are about local scenes of the Nelson/Tasman area.
In Annapolis, USA, Nicole was originally trained in drawing and watercolour painting, especially Watercolour Journaling. When she moved with her family onto their sailboat “Blue Raven” and started travelling from the USA to the Mediterranean and back through the Panama Canal to New Zealand, Watercolour Journaling was her favourite way of quickly capturing her experience on paper.
Nicole has exhibited in the United States and in New Zealand. Her paintings received 2nd Prize at the Art+Music 2019 Competition, Honorable Mention and People’s Choice recognition. She has been a guest speaker on different events and accepted several commissions.
Nicole’s studio is located in Ruby Bay/Tasman, where she teaches watercolour and oil painting in small classes. Also, she teaches Painting for All Levels, an adult education class at Waimea College, Richmond. Her artwork is permanently on exhibit at Wall To Wall Art Gallery, Nelson. She is a working artist member of the Nelson Suter Art Society and the Art Group Nelson (president 2019-2021), and coordinates the weekly painting locations of the plein air painters in the Nelson/Tasman area.
