Mike Nicoll

Joined Artfinder: Aug. 2014

Artworks for sale: 148

(13)

United Kingdom

Updates from Mike Nicoll's studio

  • The Birth of WET&DRY

    The Birth of WET&DRY

    I hate DIY. I hate it with a vengeance. Either the bits that need repainting are too high up and your arms fall off, or too low down and your back goes berserk. And, at the end of it nobody even notices. The skirting boards that were white are now, wait for it, white. Last summer (2014) I was doing just that. On my knees on the steps with a piece of wet and dry sandpaper in my hand, preparing the wood, ready for repainting. And then I saw the patina on the sandpaper… changing each time I dipped the sandpaper into the water. Patterns emerging as it dried and more depth/contrast being applied as I further attacked the emulsion on the wood. DIY had suddenly become interesting. I ‘tore’ the sandpaper with more caution, ensured folds and tears looked good and once I held a piece that my gut told me was finished, it was placed between two sheets of paper and pressed/dried. Four days of DIY where replaced by four months of art work. I love art. I love it with a vengeance.

    10 November 2015
    New Easel

    New Easel

    Loving my new (self-built) wall easel ... such a joy to work with :)

    17 July 2015
    2013 was a good year

    2013 was a good year

    I submitted a painting to a [self] portrait competition‚ as did nearly a thousand other artists from around the world. However, no matter how much hope and expectation I had, nothing quite prepared me for when my portrait was one of only 29 chosen to hang alongside works by past and present BP winners, presidents of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and countless artists with lots of letters after their names. Nor, indeed, did I ever expect to see a painting of myself, half naked with tubes coming out of various body parts, hanging next to The Queen, Alan Bennett, Tony Benn and someone called ‘Dad’. 2013 was a good year. It was the year that confirmed for me that I was on the right track. In more ways than one …

    17 July 2015