I have come to believe that that first spark that Art can light in you as a child, will stay with you all your life, regardless of whether or not you actively engage in it throughout the years.

Growing up in my hometown Auckland, New Zealand, I drew and painted from a young age and was drawn to the intricacies and diversity of faces and figures as far back as I can remember. But my love of art grew alongside a love of music and after my school years it was decision time – one had to be chosen over the other. So I went on to do a Masters degree in music and then, later, a Ph.D in England, enjoying much that London had to offer a twenty-something.

Not until years later, after marriage, children and a rewarding career as a freelance musician, editor and teacher, did I return to art. In 2011, I decided to pick up a paintbrush again and enrolled in a local art course. I was thrilled (and somewhat surprised!) to find that the instinct and spark was still there – the skills just waiting to be rediscovered and honed further. Far from being wasted, I believe that the art education I had as a student influenced the way that I observed things in the years since, continuing to train the eye and nurture an awareness of shape and form. I am still fascinated by faces and figures, endeavouring to capture a little of someone’s character, a fleeting emotion or movement in my subject. With more life experience behind me, I find I am constantly striving to convey a narrative in my work.

Today, I work mostly in charcoal and oils, specializing in figurative drawings and paintings, portraiture and still life. An exhibiting member of the Reading Guild of Artists and the Wokingham Art Society, my work can also be found in the Artscope Gallery, Reading, the Surrey Contempory Art Fair and the Chester Art Fair.

I now live in Wokingham with my husband, two children and two energetic dogs, enjoying a secondary career as a busy artist, alongside my musical one. It is a dream combination – I simply can’t imagine my life without either of them.

Nikki Carr

Artworks by Nikki Carr

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