My journey with art
At school, I was always the creative one. Even at primary school, we were encouraged to paint and enter competitions, and I loved this. Flowers and nature was a constant, and I was absolutely fascinated by Vincent van Gogh and his sunflower paintings.
This continued on throughout school, and from there, I decided to follow my passion and attend Ulster University’s the Art College, where I spent three years studying for a BA in Fine and Applied Arts. Looking back, that’s also where my love of texture comes from. I love being able to touch a piece and to use different media to create an outcome.
So my degree show was called "Is Fashion Art," and it was made up of fashion images featuring clothing that I had designed. There were lightboxes, billboards and I even got the end-of-year show sponsored by a local nightclub. It was fun and fabulous.
And then I guess, like many other people, I thought, well, what am I going to do with this degree? Becoming an art teacher just wasn't a route for me, nor was being an artist. So really, as advertising had captivated my attention, the next logical step was to study for a Masters in Communications, Advertising, and PR. But as life takes its twists and turns, I happened to get a position within a PR company, and that is really where my future lay.
So for the next 20 years, I worked within PR, building my career, and at the age of 30, decided to leave my first agency, and establish my own business, RNN Communications. Throughout this period, creativity came into play every single day. I do believe it's one of the reasons that set RNN apart, especially in the world of consumer PR. Ideas can often be in short supply, but that’s simply not the case at RNN or with me….ideas come with ease and this is largely due to my crazy creative mind.
During my 20s and 30s, it was literally 24/7. Relentless. Working flat out, hustling, juggling clients and building a team. There simply wasn’t any space for painting.
There’s the odd exception to this and from time to time, I would pick up the brushes, but really - generally out of necessity - a painting to fill some space in my home or to give to a friend.
Fast forward to 2023, and I was completing a major house extension. During the summer of 2023, I just felt the need to paint. So over the July holidays, when the builders were not in our building site of a home, I had a canvas but no paints. But what I did have was the tester pots for the colours for our home, and hey presto…let’s give it a go.
I thought back to when I was happy recently, and that was on a recent holiday to a place called Camp De Mar in Majorca, where we had a beautiful meal on a little restaurant on an island called Illeta.
I painted Illeta, I didn't know how it was going to turn out, I just gave it a go.
I started off with the first few brush strokes, and worked on that painting over a number of days, and you know what? When it was finished, I loved it, but more than that, I felt such a sense of peace and calmness, and I was proud that I'd finished the painting. This is really when my love of art was reignited.
So moving into this new home, I had a lot of empty wall space. I already had a good art collection that I had amassed over of the years, but there was still plenty of space for creativity.
I started to paint.
When I look back at some of my earlier works from many years ago, there's such a similar style; it’s a progression.
So in my work, my love for colour came through. Every single time I start with a more muted colour palette, the pieces still end up vibrant.
Each piece is inspired by a location, memory or thing, and to this concept, I add energy and vibrancy. The paintings that I paint are pieces that I would love to have in my house. They bring me joy.
In each of my pieces you’ll notice the use of multiple styles, bright colours and drips. Another important aspect is framing. This is akin to when you’ve found the perfect outfit, and then shoes to finish off the look….
For me, framing truly finishes a piece. It’s the bow and wraps up the crazy energy in the painting into a final piece of artwork that just needs to find the perfect home. Working with a local framer, we decided to be bold.
My paintings are bold, and I particularly love punches of neon, so with much negotiation, my framer and I decided to go big or go home. As neon inserts aren't really a thing, Nigel handpaints every neon insert many times to ensure depth of colour. We then overlay with another insert or a final bold black frame. After the first, we were sold, and this idea remains today.
For the Originals…It's really important to me that these pieces are originals only. We live in a world where content is free. There's so much of it. It's beige. Everything my art is not is beige. Each painting is unique. Every brushstroke is done by hand. Every application of a different media is considered and done with thought.
The paintings that I create are for people who appreciate originality.
That's why Art by Riki is for the originals.