New Website launched!

My new website www.nikkifrater.co.uk has just launched - please come and visit! Grateful thanks to Paula Johnson Design.

Apollo here is a recent experiment in tonality and subject. As the god of music, poetry, art and oracles I feel he is an ideal patron for my new web adventures.

A New Website coming soon!!

First of all I must apologise for the lack of recent posts.  I have been rather busy with other projects... However I have now finished my PhD and can return with renewed enthusiasm to painting - not that I ever completely stopped but a thesis has a way of taking over one's life! I am in the process of designing a fine new website which will be live in a few weeks. It will reflect my dual identity as an artist and art historian and for those of you following my paintings there will be photographs of many new works. I will post again when it is ready for viewing. See you soon!

Another London painting

The Terrace at Somerset House
acrylic on card
20 x 16 cm

Small London nightscape - St Paul's from Tate Modern

Mixed media

15 x 20 cm

Sold Private Collection

Here is the finished painting I posted as a work in progress during the late summer. 
It was sold in a charity auction a few weeks later.

Suite No.2 - version 2 ...

Suite No. 2

Acrylic on canvas

29.5 x 23.5 cm

SOLD Private Collection 

The first version of this painting just didn't feel 'right' to me so I've re-worked it. The previous one was too similar in tonality and I felt the image needed more contrast. The photograph has probably heightened that and intensified the colours, but I like the effect; in real life the light and shade are more subtly balanced. The photograph also lacks a little definition. I have been experimenting with using my phone rather than a camera. The phone wins for convenience but the camera just takes better photographs... 

Works in Progress in the studio

Here's the next stage of the final painting - on paper now, with a thick layer of gesso underneath for texture. It's a small nightscape, about 15 x 20 cm - a size I find useful when working with new subjects. I envisage the end product being a lot darker, but I wanted to suggest the buildings in the shadows underneath. This is the view from the balcony of the upstairs cafe at Tate Modern, one of my favourite London vantage points.

This is a tiny sketch from my sketch book - in preparation for the London Nightscape painting. I did it quickly in about an hour, with whatever I could grab from my pencil case. Sketches don't usually appear on here but this one got lucky.

New Cellist paintings

Suite No. 1

Acrylic on canvas

29.5 x 23.5 cm
SOLD Private Collection

Suite No. 2

Acrylic on canvas

29.5 x 23.5 cm

Una porta, Montisi, Tuscany
20 x 15 cm
Mixed media
unframed
SOLD Private Collection

La vecchia finestra, Montisi, Tuscany
20 x 15 cm
Mixed media
unframed
SOLD Private Collection

Flower Shop, Montisi, Tuscany

15 x 18 cm

Mixed media

SOLD Private Collection

Summer Exhibition at Plas Newydd, Anglesey July 2nd - 27th, 2011

Plas Newydd, breezy afternoon
42 x 59 cm
Acrylic on paper

This is a beautiful National Trust property on the banks of the Menai Straits, overlooking the mountains of Snowdonia. I've been invited to show a selection of paintings this summer in the house's exhibition room. As Plas Newydd has such a strong connection with Rex Whistler I have themed some works around both him and the house itself. I will also be showing a group of paintings which depict both National Trust houses and other stately homes throughout England. Please visit the NT website for opening information. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-plasnewydd

Rex Whistler c.1936
24 x 18 cm
Acrylic on canvas

SOLD Private collection

Rex in his studio, 20 Fitzroy Street

18 x 24 cm

Mixed media

SOLD Private Collection

Plas Newydd, Winter afternoon
13 x 18 cm
Acrylic on prepared card
SOLD Private Collection

Plas Newydd II

13 x 18 cm

Acrylic on prepared card

Unframed

New Paintings

The Seven Stars, Falmouth

40 x 50 cm

Acrylic on board

SOLD Private Collection

Limited edition print available

Trafalgar Square Evening, January 2010

41 x 43 cm

Acrylic on board

Louise's Chair V

18 x 12.5 cm

Mixed media

(unframed)

Louise's Chair IV

18 x 12.5 cm

Mixed media

New Paintings

Louise's Chair III

18 x 12.5 cms

Acrylic on card

(unframed)

These three paintings are part of a series I'm currently working on. They are quite petite, just above postcard size. Two more nearing completion...

Louise's Chair II

18 x 12.5 cm

Acrylic on card

Christmas Chair

18 x 12.5 cm

acrylic on card

Sold Private Collection

'Night & Day' - Exhibition at the Alverton Gallery, Penzance 1- 29 July

Across St Martin's Lane, January 2010

43 x 45 cm

Acrylic on board

Winter light, Falmouth II

70 x 100 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This is not only the largest of the 'Nightscape' series, but also the largest painting to come out of my studio. Working on this scale was a challenge, both in terms of composition and technique, and I have some more 'big' ideas to paint later this year.

Latest News!

I am currently showing the six 'Nightscape' paintings at The Alverton Gallery in Penzance:

The Alverton Gallery

5 Alverton Street

Penzance

TR18 2QW

01736 351668

Email info@thealvertongallery.co.uk

www.thealvertongallery.co.uk

'Gallery with a difference for the discerning art lover in the heart of Penzance, Cornwall.

A working studio gallery with an unusual blend of contemporary fine art, gold jewellery and small antiques. A short walk between The Exchange and the Penlee Art Galleries.'

Do come and visit the gallery, you'll be sure of a warm welcome from Tim and Diana and good tea and coffee are available too!

Later in the summer I will be having a larger exhibition at the Alverton, so watch this space...

Winter light II

13 x 18 cms

Mixed media on card

Winter light, Falmouth

13 x 18 cms
Mixed media on card

Blue nightscape

18 x 13cm
Mixed media on card

Winter nightscape with trees

18 x 13 cm
Mixed media on card

Autumn Nightscape

Acrylic on prepared card

24 x 30 cm

Falmouth Nightscape

Acrylic on prepared card
24 x 30 cms

SOLD Private Collection

And here is the finished painting. I've enjoyed doing it so much that I can feel a series coming on...

Falmouth night - a work in progress

Acrylic on prepared card

24 x 30 cms

I have long been fascinated by the sight of the docks as night falls, especially if the evening is misty. As an experiment I took some photos and this painting is the result. I wasn't sure how to get the effects I wanted and this is still being worked on. Not using a brush seemed to help...

Gun Street, Spitalfields

Acrylic on canvas

35 x 45cms
Sold Private Collection

Christ Church Spitalfields has featured in two previous paintings. Churches are amongst my favourite architectural subjects and this beautiful Hawksmoor building has a majestic quality. The streets of Spitalfields are steeped in history and with a very different feeling to the rest of the city. This shop and cafe immediately appealed to me as a subject for a painting, particularly with the church just visible in the background.

In the Orangery II

Mixed media on prepared card
31 x 25 cm approx
Sold Private Collection

Exhibition at Over the Moon Gallery St Agnes, Cornwall. 15th May to 20th June 2009. Open Tues-Sat 10 - 4.30 & Bank Holiday weekend

South Bank evening III
Acrylic on canvas
70 x 6o cm
Sold - Private collection

This is the final painting in the South Bank series. Night has fallen and the city has taken on a golden glow. Meanwhile the lights of the city reflect off the clouds with a strange ethereal greeny tinge . I loved the reflections on the water; it was such a still night that there looked to be two of all the buildings, one above and one below the Thames.

Archway, St. Ives

Acrylic on board
29 x 20 cm
SOLD Private Collection

Covent Garden sunset

Acrylic on paper
18 x 13 cm
Sold - Private Collection

In the Gardens, Port Eliot

Acrylic on board

40 x 50 cm

Sold Private Collection

Port Eliot is the seat of the Earl of St Germans, currently Peregrine Eliot, whose family have occupied the house since the 1540s. The house occupies a beautiful setting on the banks of the Lynher estuary, near Plymouth. The walled gardens are a favourite part of the estate and the Orangery offers intriguing views through these romantic spaces. I visited the estate on the most perfect summer's day and it has provided inspiration for many paintings, some inside and some outside the Orangery.

South Bank evening II

Acrylic on paper

34 x 29 cm
Sold Private Collection

Covent Garden Evening

18 x 13 cm
Acrylic on paper
Sold - Private collection

St Martin-in-the-fields from the National Gallery

18 x 13 cm
Acrylic on paper
Sold Private Collection

This is looking at one of my favourite buildings in London from another favourite. I like standing on the steps of the National Gallery, either looking out over Trafalgar Square and down to the Houses of Parliament or across at St Martin's. On this day the church was brilliantly white against the blue of the sky and the shadows across the columns were constantly changing with the light.

South Bank evening

18cm x 13cm
Acrylic on paper
Sold - Private Collection

As I walked along the South Bank the daylight faded and the lights of the city came on, sparkling in the distance. Lots of others were strolling along, admiring the view and a beautiful evening. London, to me, looks at its best in this dusky pink twilight.

St Paul's Church, Covent Garden

18 x 13 cm
Acrylic on paper
Sold Private collection

This is also known as the Actor's Church because of its many associations with the theatrical community. The lights and energy of the London theatres are all around but this is an oasis of peace. I particularly like the monumentality of this facade which looks on to the Piazza. This isn't the front, that is round the back!

Covent Garden, evening in the Piazza

18 x 13 cm
Acrylic on paper
(unframed)
sold - Private collection

I love cities at night. This was inspired by a trip to London in September and evenings spent wandering around Covent Garden. The weather was balmy and crowds of people were enjoying their drinks and dinner outside.

In the Orangery, Port Eliot

40 x 40 cms
Acrylic on canvas
Sold - Private Collection

Exhibition at Morvah Schoolhouse Gallery, near Penzance 13 - 25 July

Image is:
Cellist in St Catherine's Chapel
36 x 30 cm
Acrylic on board
sold - Private collection

All Souls Church, Regent Street, rainy evening

70 x 60 cm
Acrylic on canvas
sold - Private collection