Artist & Tutor
INSPIRED BY NATURE & IGNITED BY COLOUR
Nicky's Artwork
Nicky Hunters radiant artworks capture ‘realism with a touch of romance’. She uses traditional watercolour
methods in a contemporary and expressive way, aiming to be bold yet beautiful with her approach to using
the challenging yet magical medium of watercolour.
Nicky creates paintings that radiate with colour and light ,capturing the essence of the bloom, bird, landscape or other subject matter. She is particularly well known for her flamboyant, lively floral paintings; the foundation of
her skill and passion for this subject developed through working as a textile designer for 2 decades in both the fashion and interior sectors where florals were a staple theme in her paintings, illustrations and design work.
Studio & workshop
Her studio is based in Buckinghamshire at Westbury Arts Centre, a tranquil hidden gem surrounded by nature in the heart of Milton Keynes. Westbury is home to 'The Artist Collective', formed by 18 multi disciplinary artists each with their individual and characterful studios. The group collaborate on creative projects to make and exhibit art and support others to do so too through community projects and workshops. Nicky hosts watercolour painting
workshops in the lovely sun blushed drawing room at Westbury and regular classes at other beautiful venues and
art schools in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire & Oxfordshire as well as being hosted as a guest tutor
around the UK. See workshops page for more information.
My creative journey
I always knew I was destined for a creative career even as a child, the art room at school was my favorite place so I naturally went to Art college in Shropshire to study a Diploma in Art & Design and then completed a degree in 'Textiles & Surface Pattern Design' at De Montfort University, Leicester in 1998.
My career began as an embroidery designer in the bridal industry, taking me on many journeys to exciting colourful places from India, China, & Europe in search of luxurious silks and evocative tactile fabrics on which to create floral and decorative patterns with lustrous coloured threads, beads and diamante. This progressed to creating ranges of furnishing fabrics, collaborating with other well known designers on interior development projects including palaces, theatre and film production companies, giving me an array of exciting creative opportunities. My designs often featured in fashion, bridal and interiors magazines, also on TV, and gained me recognition and awards in the interior design industry.
These were exciting times!.
Designing embroidery used my illustration and colour skills but painting was always my first love; I moved into designing printed fabrics for the ladies fashion industry working for popular fashion brands and retailers including Laura Ashley and Jacques Vert. It was really exciting to see my patterns on garments in many high street shops and knowing ladies were wearing my creations. After a few years I chose the freelance route to enable me to sell my designs internationally to iconic brands and fashions labels and have the freedom to extend my illustration and painting repertoire. I developed a real passion for painting with inks and the illusive and challenging medium of watercolour and explored this fully and coming full circle in 2018 my original love for fine art and painting took precedence again over design. Returning to painting as an art rather than a design medium, I undertook additional fine art training through intense 1 to 1 tuition in 2020 with a much admired fine artist and tutor and developed my fine art skills and own style further. This lead to my artwork being represented in galleries nationally and many more opportunities to tutur around the UK and share my skills and passion to a much wider audience.
Since 2017 I have been hosting painting workshops to support others on their creative journeys; enthusiastically sharing the joy of working with watercolour and related medium. It is truly rewarding helping others to develop their skills to blossom creatively. I now have a loyal following of students who attend the regular workshops at different arts venues in Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. I enjoy hosting workshops nationally for art groups and societies and hosting residential courses in prestigious art schools at various locations in the UK and can tailor make design workshops for colleges or professional organisations. You can contact me direct to discuss the needs for your organisation or via Arts Profile a professional organisation directed by well known artist Peter Keegan that represent over 180 professional artists in the UK and connect them with art groups and art societies nationwide.
