Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Dutton.
Hi Nicole, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
As many other artists say, I’ve always been interested in the arts. As long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed painting, drawing, and exploring all mediums. When I entered college and had to decide on a career path, I chose to get my B.A. in psychology to go on to a master’s in art therapy. However, I pivoted after five years of working in behavioral health and social work while also taking night art classes. I decided to follow the path I had always enjoyed most and apply for a Master’s in Fine Arts. I was accepted into Fontbonne University’s MFA program, where I emphasized painting. After graduation, I began a 15-year career in non-profit arts administration, overseeing galleries, public art, permanent collections, arts education, etc. Over the past five years, I’ve had the opportunity to move into different areas of the art industry, working for an interior design firm overseeing the art consultation department. I am currently a Director at Third Degree Glass Factory. I’ve been blessed to make the arts a career. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to meet artists working in all mediums from all around the world. I’m constantly inspired by others’ work and the visual language used to express an idea or their perception of what something represents. Around ten years ago, I exhibited a group of encaustic artists’ work and fell madly in love with the medium. One of the artists provided a workshop, so I joined, and the rest is history. I love the surface quality and ethereal look an encaustic piece can create, and the process of using a torch on wax is mesmerizing. I’ve been exploring this medium ever since and can’t imagine doing anything else.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As mishaps go, I burned an entire batch of encaustic because I thought my skillet was off, and it was not. It was a nasty and expensive mess up, but c’est la vie. I haven’t done it since. On a deeper level, the struggles got me working more consistently in the studio. Our family had gone through an abnormal amount of loss and grief, and I needed something to focus on. As silly as it sounds, encaustic helped me find a balance between letting go and controlling. The medium will do what it wants, and you must figure out how to adapt. Some really beautiful things happen when you let encaustic do its thing. There was a good lesson in that for me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve been most proud of my decision to prioritize my art. I’m most known for my portfolio of landscape encaustic paintings. Much of my work has fluid skies, translucent middle ground, and textural foregrounds. It’s easy to let other things take center stage, but now I sell my artwork and teach classes at a local gallery.
We love surprises, fun facts, and incredible stories. Can you share something that might surprise us?
I hate to cook. It seems counter-intuitive since encaustic is much like cooking, but truly I wouldn’t say I like cooking food. If I ever won the lottery, I would hire a chef. I should start playing the lottery.
Pricing:
- My artwork sells for approximately $100/sq ft.
Contact Info:
- Website: nicoledutton.com
- Instagram: nicoledutton_art
- Facebook: Nicole Dutton Art
