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Dandelions

The sight of dandelions springing up around my neighborhood, bright yellow against carpets of green grass, evokes such a comforting feeling of nostalgia.  A perfectly manicured lawn advises you to keep off. One erupting with dandelions offers a warm welcome. Dandelions are not too different, and no less charming, than a sunflower or chrysanthemum yet, instead of celebrating their beauty, we set out to eradicate them. Compulsions fueling a multi billion dollar industry. Take a look inside any hardware store and you will find isles of products dedicated to eliminating them. But really, dandelions are lovely little flowers. The ideal lawn is sterile, kept short and immature. It should onlyContinue Reading

Dandelions 4 painting by nick ward

Dandelions #4

Three panels, 64”x30” total – oil on panel

Dandelions 3 painting by Nick Ward

Dandelions #3

60”x12” – oil on panel

Portrait of Dorothy

Portrait of John

Dandelions #2

60”x12” – oil on panel

Dandelions #1

Two panels, each 26”x32” – oil on panel

Family Portrait

36″ x 18″ – oil on panel

Nick Ward Who?

Nick Ward is figurative painter and printmaker who creates portrait based works that explore timeless stories through the internet obsessed eyes of today. Originally from a small town outside Portland Oregon, Nick currently resides in the outskirts of Boston, MA with his wife, daughter, and their scrappy dog. His work has twice earned him Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants for painting.

Statement

Interpreting faces and figures is a very fundamental part of being human. We all spend countless hours studying the people around us and because of this, anyone who looks at a portrait, no matter what their education or background, has an instinctual understanding of what small changes in expression and proportion might signify. Because of these primal reactions, I believe portraits have a unique power as an art form. My paintings use simple compositions, often using multiple panels with repeated elements, that allow the familiar form of the human face and body to take center stage. I try to combine traditional techniques and labor intensive processes, with pixelated imagery and saturated colors. The paintings celebrate quirks of our current aesthetics; which future generations will look back on with the kind of nostalgia we currently feel for film grain and crackling records. In many cases, each color within the subject's skin tones is pulled to the surface and allowed to create chaotic patterns within the boundaries of the subject's body. From there, small distortions and slightly exaggerated characteristics invite the viewer to allow their own anxieties and desires to define the piece.

For more on each individual series, click here.

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Interesting in modeling for a piece? Have questions about my work? Want to give me a piece of your mind? Email me.