Embroidered watercolor flowers on art tour

Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of profiles of artists participating in the Slightly West of Spokane Studio Artist Tour set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30. Look for more profiles in upcoming editions of the Cheney Free Press.

MEDICAL LAKE - A mixed media artist here will be at Stop No. 2 of the Nov. 30 Slightly West of Spokane Studio Tour.

Nicole Nutt will be presenting her work at Roam Coffee, 107 E. Lake St., during the daylong tour.

"I am a mixed media artist who primarily works with watercolors, acrylic paint and embroidery thread," Nutt said. "I started experimenting with embroidery on my paintings during the pandemic and fell in love with the process."

Nutt enjoys making embroidered watercolor collages, she said. She makes them by painting watercolor flowers, cutting them out and then embroidering them back onto a painted canvas or paper.

"I love the dimension and texture that this process adds to my artwork," she said.

Nutt said she's a lifelong artist, having developed a love of art and nature as a child growing up in Alaska.

Her grandfather was an artists who made oil paintings of the Alaskan wilderness, she said.

"After studying art in university, I moved to the Spokane/Cheney area with my husband and daughters," she said. "It was here where I really honed my artistic style. For the past few years that I've lived here, I've been so inspired by the beautiful nature and wildflowers in this region."

Nutt paints flowers as a "celebration of the natural world," she said, noting their growth parallels the human experience.

"After hard winter seasons, flowers always return with their vibrance," Nutt said. "My art reminds me to cherish and look forward to those beautiful periods of life that are in full bloom."