I am a lifelong artist from a family of artists. Surrounded my whole life by creativity, a love of nature, and a desire to create, all roads lead back to art in the end, surprisingly only myself but absolutely no one else. My aim with art is to make art you can stare at and get lost in. I’ve had my own struggles with anxiety and in the midst of that, I wanted to make my space comforting and soothing. I wanted to spark joy within myself and give my eyes somewhere to rest while providing escape from my inner thoughts. The piece titled “Big Green Daydream” was the first piece I created with this explicit intention, and that intention has remained many years later.

I am constantly drawing inspiration from nature. It is so much bigger than we are, and contains so many intricate and beautiful treasures! The vastness of nature is impossible to replicate on the canvas, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to capture slivers of the feeling I get with both feet planted on a woodland path and trees all around. I want to bask in that moment, and through my artwork, I hope to extend an invitation to that same feeling to you, the viewer.

My primary medium is acrylic on canvas and that will be reflected in the main body of my work. To keep the dopamine flowing, I have also been known to sculpt from clay, or paint on just about any surface there is to paint. Sometimes my paintings demand that I embed something a little extra (like snake skin molts on “Primordial Galaxy Lizard”) to achieve the textures I crave. Repeated visual themes have included drips, honeycombs, bees, and grackles, because these things directly represent joy in being alive and create a meditative flow state while working the paint.

If you don’t see something represented in my work (but would like to), I take commissions! Own an original painting or sculpture as per your own hopes and dreams! I have sculpted and painted a number of characters from popular cartoons (check out some of them on the Gallery page). Want me to paint on an unconventional surface? Is it more or less strange than shoes? Drop me a line and tell me about it! I’m always willing to bend my creativity to a task on someone else’s behalf. Let’s make art and spread some joy together!

— Nikki Stofast