Painter Andrew Nicholson will speak on his craft and his storied life as an Olympic athlete, an endurance competitor, and now a full-time watercolour artist.
Nicholson, who is based in Dunedin, brings an unpretentious but enthusiastic view to art, choosing to bring forth a realistic piece of art, but not too realistic.
"I do watercolours, half landscapes, birds, wildlife. Mostly I sell small works, realistic pieces far away from the abstract.
"My paintings look like they’re supposed to, but, I find sometimes painters can be so fantastic with realism, I wonder why you wouldn’t just buy a photo," he said.
For him, it was about creating good art for people to buy and enjoy, not grinding through perfectionism but rather incrementally developing skill.
"Everybody wins with my paintings. I do them quickly, because I’m efficient. I don’t want to be over-working, I can’t have that mindset.
"I take a competitive approach, always trying to improve. Everyone’s always telling me to add an extra zero to the cost, but I’m absolutely happy with the way I do it," he said.
Nicholson is not your average painter either. He competed at three Winter Olympic games as a speed skater, which he said is "similar, but better than the Jamaican bobsled story", and his book Road Rage details his world record fastest circumnavigation of the world, where he biked 29,209km over the course of four months.
Nicholson said he was excited for the exhibition.
"I love coming down to Southland. I’m just quite passionate about art. I enjoy talking about it, selling it, and making a living out of it," he said.
The exhibition opens on Friday night and runs until November 13.
