Nicole Fearfield

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

About Nicole Fearfield

The longer I paint the more I’ve come to recognise that if you are quiet, open and allowing then the natural world around us is waiting to connect. Tuning into that connection has become a big part of my painting process. My work is about immersing myself in this connection with nature and capturing my visceral response - translating the energy and light of my surrounds into a visually interesting arrangement with which viewers might feel a connection. Native bushland borders my studio near the foot of Mt Coot-tha, and many of my recent works have been inspired by hikes and daily dog walks around the mountain trails. The light changes quickly and depending on the time of day and year, spans the full spectrum of cool blues, greens and yellows to cobalt skies, warm orange and ochre tones with deep shadows amidst the foliage. Endlessly changing, there is always something new for me to see and absorb, mentally recording the smallest details to bring to life back in my studio. I love to paint energetically, laying down dabs and dots of paint on the canvas with meditative mark-making, intuitively activating the canvas with loose, gestural strokes. I like to stay in this state of flow for as long as I can, as these are the marks made from within, my soul place. Then with left brain engaged, I respond to these early emotive marks in a back and forth, call and response manner, both additive and subtractive. The first marks inform the next and so on as more deliberate decisions are made - colour palette, composition, texture and line - and intuition makes way for more intentional choices borne from years of study and practise. I allow myself the freedom to paint as I enjoy most - fast, loose and playfully. I am intentionally striving to bring more fun and play into my work, both in process and outcome. Nicole Fearfield Sep 2020

Education:

A self-taught artist, I began a B.A. Vis Arts from the Open College of Arts, London whilst on overseas posting in Borneo in 2012, but found myself frustrated by the snail pace of both mail and content, and too impatient to paint to stay the course.
I have sought and benefitted from wonderful teachers in art, and in 2018 completed an intensive training course with Nicholas Wilton (San Fransisco) and before that Nancy Hillis. Both have been instrumental in my development as an abstract painter.

Exhibitions:

Feb 2020 Finalist in the Aspire Petite Pieces Show
Jan 2020 Finalist in Art Lovers top 100 art prize
May 2019 Finalist in the Brisbane Rotary Art Spectacular
Feb 2019 Selected to exhibit with the Royal Queensland Art Society's Women's Work exhibition