ADAM NICHOLS
Nearly twenty years ago, I stood in front of a Rembrandt portrait in the National Gallery in London, England, transfixed by the beauty of the lace collar sported by the prosperous Berger in the painting. The collar was a mere fashion accessory and yet also a thing of amazing, intricate loveliness… painted with such precision that it took my breath away. It was a revelation for me, the way the line and form of a real-world thing could at the same time be a shape of such pure abstract beauty.
Ever since that moment, I have searched for that pure beauty of form and line and light in the shapes of real-world objects. My watercolors, pastel paintings, and graphite drawings are carefully studied, representational works, and I try to give the viewer a strong sense of being there (wherever ‘there’ might be in a painting), but in everything I paint or draw — the billowing curve of a summer cloud, the undulations of gently moving water, the play of light and shadow on a brick wall, the curve of a Notre Dame gargoyle’s flank — I try to reveal as best I can the abstract beauty inherent in such things. It is the goal I strive for in every one of the images I create.
The beauty is there in the world. I try to see it and to depict it as faithfully as I can.
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I paint a wide variety of subject matter, from landscapes to cityscapes, wildlife to still life. I also enjoy taking on interesting projects — like creating a series of watercolor portraits of chimpanzees to produce a fund-raising calendar for a primate sanctuary.
I'm a signature member of the Northwest Watercolor Society (earned through entering juried exhibitions) and have had shows in, and been represented by, galleries in Scotland, England, Iceland, Canada, and the U.S. I'm also an adjunct associate professor with the University of Maryland. I've lived and worked in England, Scotland, Norway, Iceland, Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Australia, China, Canada, and the U.S.