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Artist Exhibitions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Galleries:
NICOLE'S STUDIO & ART GALLERY
715 N. Person St Raleigh NC
27604
(919) 838-8580
http://www.nicolestudio.com/
My website...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
Coming Soon!
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Collections:
Johnston Medical Center
Cape Fear Valley Health System
Downtown Raleigh Alliance
Clayton (NC) Chamber of
Commerce
Capital Bank
NC Dept. of Agriculture
NC Petroleum Marketers
Association
Ms. Elizabeth Edwards
Ms. Donna Gregory
Many private collections...
Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Doug Strickland
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Painting and drawing have always been my passion. I started drawing when I was less than five years old, and making pictures has always been one of my biggest sources of enjoyment. I’ve frequently been told that I have a special talent, but, to me, anything I have accomplished in art has come as the result of my interest and my desire to practice the skill of drawing and painting, a willingness to compare my work with that of artists I admire, and to experiment with new methods.
I’ve concluded that there are specific observational skills and art making techniques that can be mastered, and I consider myself to be in the process of mastering those techniques. Although I’ve been making art most of my life, I try to keep learning. I’ve been drawing and painting long enough now to have gained confidence in my ability to reproduce in paint or other media most of the things that inspire me.
I draw and paint whatever attracts my interest and I especially enjoy painting people. Evidence of human activity, I believe, is what attracts the interest of human observers, whether it is the expressive brushwork in a Sargent or Van Gogh painting, the nostalgic sentiment evoked by a Norman Rockwell work, the placement of human handiwork in a landscape, or the outright depiction of a person, as in a portrait. For me, the most mysterious and spiritual parts of the process of creating artwork come with the first inspiration and with the final realization of the inspired artwork. Between these two points, for me, lay many decisions, applications of technique, and revisions, until I feel pleased with the results. I paint in a representational style, but I do not strive for photo-realism. I love the texture left by the brush in paint, since that is evidence of my presence in the process.
It is my desire to paint well enough to attract the attention of a viewer from across the room. I try to leave a couple of unanswered questions about the depicted subject, so the viewer can project something personally relevant into the painting’s meaning. Finally, I hope to inspire the viewer and other artists with good draftsmanship, effective composition, and the skillful application of paint or other media.
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