Rain-Soaked

Rain-Soaked

10 x 10"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

available at Assiniboia Gallery

Earlier this year after a good rain when things started looking really fresh and green.

Dark Marsh

Dark Marsh

8 x 8"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

I made this up from memories.

A Clear Winter's Night

A Clear Winter's Night

8 x 8"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

Experimental night scene. It's hard to see on the screen, but the under-painting was a bright fuchsia, so some of the tiny stars actually glow pink. Also, snow.

Amber Sunset

Amber Sunset

8 x 8"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

Playing with some of the concepts that struck a chord with me at Doug Swinton's workshop a month ago: thicker paint, warm and cool colours, expressive marks. Me likey.

Carefree

Carefree

10 x 10"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Assiniboia Gallery

Wide open Saskatchewan.

My Moonlit Reverie

My Moonlit Reverie

36 x 36"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

The reflection in this one glows, GLOWS I tell you! It's big and it feels modern! Check it out in the group show "Painting the Landscape" at Darrell Bell Gallery on until November 10th.

You know when you have a painting that has to be delivered the next day? You have been working madly on it for days and finally at ten o'clock on that last night before delivery you are exhausted and you think, "It's okay. It will do. It's done." You know when that happens, right? So you tidy your space, go wash your brushes and then you walk back into your studio, look at your painting and you think, "Eff that! Okay is not good enough!" Next thing you know you are picking up brushes again and take a massive risk by completely overhauling the sky from ice-cream-scoop-looking clouds to moody, ethereal, moonlit clouds. The painting goes from "okay" to awesome because now the sky makes sense with the mood of the painting. 

You know when that happens?

Yeah, me too because that's what happened with this painting.

Boreal Forest

Boreal Forest

8 x 8"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

This was an experiment. The underpainting and initial sketch on the panel was done in an intense magenta. I love the pops of that colour coming through the various greens.

Star Bright

Star Bright

8 x 8"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

I have had plenty of fun exploring night scenes and dusky scenes in the last year. It is a way for me to inject colour into the landscape and to use my imagination in my art since I can't take a good photo in the light at night to use as reference.

For this painting I was thinking of the rhyme "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight..." and wanted to create an image of that first star appearing in the last few moments of a spectacular, but fading sunset.

Can you see the little star?

September Lines

September Lines

20 x 20"

oil on panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

All Rights Reserved

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

The opening at the gallery last night was lots of fun despite a glitchy elevator situation. People came, people laughed, people enjoyed the art... and some pieces sold including this little landscape of mine. To be honest this is not an accurate photo, but it is the best I could get. The sky is actually more purple than blue and the wheat field really glows in the light. 

I was extraordinarily touched by a friend who, with tears in her eyes, purchased "September Lines" last night. She told me that this image was exactly a moment she remembered experiencing. The painting represented "the moment" she held in her memory and her reaction to it was intense and emotional. I did not ask her what it reminded her of because I honestly felt like it was so personal that a busy gallery was not the place to ask her to elaborate. Also, it was quite likely none of my business.

I am continually and profoundly motivated by reactions like these where someone connects to the light, energy, mood and emotion I try to portray through my art using landscape as a subject. It has become a real driving force. And I am grateful.

Sparkling Water, Waskesiu River

Sparkling Water, Waskesiu River

30 x 40"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

Oh, this one makes me happy.

The water. The water turned out.

Come see it in person at the opening of "Painting The Landscape" TODAY from 5-8 pm at Darrell Bell Gallery. So excited!

Rain

Rain

20 x 20"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

available at Darrell Bell Gallery

In the show opening tomorrow at Darrell Bell Gallery...

Teaser Collage of New 8x8's

 teaser collage 

of eight new 8x8's 

available at Darrell Bell Gallery
© Nicki Ault, 2018

I have painted seventeen brand new 8x8's for "Painting The Landscape" which opens this Thursday at Darrell Bell Gallery. Above are teaser details of sixteen of them.

I am really excited to see both gallery spaces redone with the art created by these talented people! It was an absolutely packed house at last year's reception and no doubt it will be again this year, so come and join in the festivities!

The Space Between

The Space Between

48 x 24"

acrylic and oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

Something a little different for the group show "Painting The Landscape". A bit of a riff off "Boreal Cool Down" which was painted for my solo show at Assiniboia Gallery this past June.

The invitation...

Quiet Inferno and Painting The Landscape Group Exhibition!

Quiet Inferno

48 x 48"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

Ta daaaa!!!

I am so happy with how this huge canvas turned out. The impact is a bit lost on a small screen, but in person it has a quiet power, and that sunset really glows! It's the show-stopper I hoped it would be.

I have been working feverishly on this and some other new large work for a group show, "Painting The Landscape", which opens on Thursday, October 18th at Darrell Bell Gallery. The opening reception is the same evening, so please, do come!

Shine Your Light

Shine Your Light

30 x 30"

oil on canvas

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery

I just realized I never posted this painting here on my blog, but for some reason it was posted on my Instagram and Facebook pages. Weird. 

Anyway, I love it and it sold fast to someone who had a very profound connection to a sunset just like this one. Stories like hers are the ones that drive me forward as a landscape painter; stories that are about intimate moments humans have with our natural world. I wondered why I was compelled to paint this and now I wonder if it's because she needed this painting to help navigate her way through a devastating loss.

Let's Walk Together

Let's Walk Together

6 x 6"

oil on board

© Nicki Ault, 2018

(commission)
sold

A little commission requested by my sister to give to her friend as a wedding gift. 

A path like this is meaningful to the couple, so of course I was touched to be able to paint it for them. May this little painting always remind them of the day they chose each other and may they walk through life with abundant love..

Burning Sun: Last Minutes

Burning Sun: Last Minutes

8 x 8"

oil on cradled panel

© Nicki Ault, 2018

sold at Darrell Bell Gallery