John Nicholas

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am an engineer by training and a business professor by trade, but art, drawing, and painting has been a passion since before kindergarten. I take numerous photographs, almost always thinking they might become part of a painting. Favorite subjects: mountains and rushing water, waves, city life, panoramas, and vistas; sometimes people too. All my scenes are from places I have travelled; most are from Colorado, which I love and visit often. Most of my paintings start on a matt board painted over with a mixture of gesso, pumice, and pastel powder. Each painting consists of 2-3 layers of pastel, each layer fixed with Turpinoid or gesso, sometimes spray fixative. I use a variety of pastels, hard and soft, pastel pencils, and charcoal, and sometimes paint the pastels with a pastel/Turpenoid mixture or acrylics. I devote much time to thinking about and planning each painting, but while working on a painting I am always tweaking it and frequently deviate from the plan. Working evenings and weekends, each painting takes 3-6 weeks to complete.

Image: Erev Tov Tel Aviv, Pastel, 2015, 16x20