ABOUT
"Where the world ceases to be the scene of our personal hopes and wishes, where we face it as free beings, admiring, asking, and observing, there we enter the realm of Art and Science."
-Albert Einstien
Realism and colour were always the focus of Nicky's art. She blends geometry and her knowledge of anatomy to create interesting compostions and beautiful images. She has an uncanny ability to add life into her subjects that light the imagination and keep people interested and intrigued.

Growing up she spent hours in museums and in front of books studying bone and muscle structure to increase her knowlegde of anatomy. Once she saw a documentary on the super realist Alex Colville and how he blends geometry into his work to create paintings that enhance the strength and interest of the composition. Her primary influences include Alex Colville, M.C. Escher, Magritte, David Blackwood, Beverley Doolittle and Robert Bateman. Her art has been displayed worldwide, both in public and private exhibitions in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Holland, China, and Africa.

I did some art for the Valley Zoo in Edmonton including the illustraion on this educational signpost

She has a strong background in life drawing and anatomy and a background in Biology (with a particular interest in unusual life forms) and applies this to her creative application of original creatures that still maintain believability. She is proficient at speed poly modelling and has participated in CGTalks "model a creature in 1 hour" exercise. She can UV and UVW Map in Maya and 3D Studio Max respectively and has made custom rigs and animations in Maya, notably a challenging quadruped rig for a horse complete with rotating ears and a breathing system linked from the nostrils to the body.

Nicky models both in Maya (6 and 6.5) and 3D Studio Max (5 and 8). She has strong technical skills in Photoshop (6 to CS). She graduated at the top of the class with award and a 5k scholarship in the Devstudios Diploma program in 3D Animation and Digital Compositing program, one of the most intense accelerated programs in North America.

Her textures are a composite of personal photographic work and hand painting, both digital painting and drawn then photographed. She has well over 1000 original textures in her digital library at her disposal, everything from cracked concrete to skies to animal parts and plant life. She also utilizes shaders including maps and materials and ramp shaders where appropriate.

With her creativity and knowledge of anatomy and texture resources and polymodelling skills, Nicky is able to make any creature as outlandish or mundane as needed.

A selection of models by Nicky. For more, please visit the Computer Art Section.

Logo for Whitemud Equine Centre on the side of the Edmonton City Police Horse Van

is an example of some volunteer charity graphics I have done for the city.

Whitemud Equine Centre also uses this graphic as their official logo.

 

Painting real-life objects in the Biology Lab

Past and present contracts include PJ's Pets, Remax, Edmonton Valley Zoo, Meadowrose Farms, Whitemud Equine Centre, International Institute for Qualitative Methods, University of Alberta, Kennedy Recordings, The Edmonton Pet Parrot Association and others