Nicola Osborne United Kingdom

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After completing my illustration degree, I qualified as a secondary art teacher. I taught for over 20 years. Now I am a full time intuitive mixed media painter, influenced by nature, creating rhythmic, colourful and abstract work.

For Nicola, painting is more than a visual experience — it's an emotional dialogue between colour, form, and viewer. As a former art teacher turned full-time artist, Nicola brings both technical skill and intuitive depth to her mixed media practice. Her journey has taken her from the classroom to artist residencies, always driven by a deep belief in the power of visual connection. Working primarily with acrylics and vibrant acrylic inks, Nicola creates layered, expressive works that shimmer with colour and emotion. Her fascination lies in how colour affects the human spirit — how a certain hue can shift a mood, unlock a memory, or ground us in a sense of place. Rooted in the natural world, her work often begins with floral and organic inspiration. Over time, it has evolved from representational to more abstract expressions. This shift reflects a growing realization: the intricate beauty of nature can't be precisely captured — but it can be felt. And it's that feeling Nicola chases with every brushstroke. Her process is intuitive, embracing the unexpected. Patterns emerge. Shapes repeat. Lines and geometry intertwine with bold washes of colour. She draws inspiration from kaleidoscopic imagery and the structured chaos of the natural world, using visual rhythm to draw viewers in. Recently, Nicola’s focus has turned to place. Her latest body of work explores the environments we inhabit — our homes, cities, landscapes — and how these influence our emotional lives. Using a schematic approach, she reduces the complexity of built and natural environments into symbols, blocks of colour, and repeated motifs. The result is a collection of pattern-based paintings that are deeply personal yet widely resonant. Nicola’s work is accessible and vibrant, full of passion and precision. Her paintings invite you to pause, feel, and connect — with colour, with place, and perhaps with something within yourself.