Nicola Wilks
The landscape and architecture where I live on Loch Fyne in Scotland, my travels in Europe and a previous career in Interior Design have all instilled in me a strong desire to paint. Tutorials from the very talented Hugh Buchanan have turned this into a real inspiration, and I now paint full time.
I am constantly surprised at what can come from a blank sheet of watercolour paper. I scratch away with pencils and then lay on the paint, sometimes many washes of colour, to build up the image and texture that I want to convey. Many of the pictures take weeks not days to complete – I want the image to be pretty accurate, but with atmosphere. My background has been a source of a wide variety of influences and inspirations, and I am very excited about the many subjects and materials that I want to explore, and about how my work could develop.