Niki and Ellie |
Winter Sunset |
Niki loves to sketch out ideas of paintings but sometimes just gets an image in her mind of what she should paint next and goes straight to her desk to paint it out. She recently started a great new project on Flikr called The Journal Project. She started this project to encourage other artists to make drawing a regular part of their life. Niki herself struggles with fitting drawing in to her day to day life. The Journal project has helped her to draw more and hopes that it is inspiring other artists too. Take a look at the site and see if you'd like to join us for a bit more creative time. I joined a few weeks ago and have enjoyed taking more time to draw.
When I asked Niki what her favorite part of creating her paintings and mixed media pieces was, she said;
"I love bringing things from my imagination to life in a painting or drawing. It's fun to take everyday things and paint my impression of them using my whimsical style, I just love that. I think the thing that brings me the most joy is painting something special for someone and knowing that it means so much. Being a part of that is wonderful."
My Friend |
My Sweet Heart |
Sweet Blessings |
Love is in the Air |
"People always ask me how I come up with my ideas and really it's a case of God speaking to me through everyday life and experiences, things I enjoy etc and I take that and paint it!"
Poppies by the Sea |
"Blank canvas syndrome is the only one I can think of for the creative part and definitely the marketing and business side of it all. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it all, some days enjoying the change of pace and others just wanting to spend the whole day painting or drawing. I also wish I could 'see' people, it gets hard sometimes not being able to connect face to face with my online customers."
Niki also is an amazing photographer. Niki started exploring photography a few years ago.
"I am so inspired by the sky and the different sunsets every evening, so I created a series based on those and also other things in nature that really inspire me. I dip in and out of photography and I expect I will always be like that, it's fun to take the camera out and really look at nature closely. I offer prints of my photography in my shop also."
Amazed |
I asked Niki where she sees her work going in the future.
"I think I will continue to explore my love of vintage and the country, I don't think I could ever run out of ideas. I hope that I can offer more online classes in the future. I loved creating Mixed Media Basics, sharing all that I'd learnt was fun and very insightful. I love to encourage and support others. I leave the rest up to God to direct me :)"
Niki just moved her artwork from her Etsy shop to a more community style store where she can offer all of her creations in one place. If you'd like to purchase a piece of Niki's artwork or just get to know her better, stop by her new website: The Vintage Artist
I hope you enjoyed getting to know Niki and her artwork. Thanks so much for joining me for the Artist of the Month post.
I will be taking a little blogging break, returning the week of July 11th. See you then!
"Friends are a smile from God." by Madi