About Me

Nicki Heenan is a full-time artist and divides her time between Wiltshire, UK and Auckland, New Zealand. She is a popular tutor in Ireland, United States, Switzerland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Nicki has background in Chemistry (MSc Hons) and a foundation in Cross Arts from Goldsmiths UCL. She studied classical painting in Australia before coming to the UK and undertaking study at The Prince’s Drawing School, The Slade and masterclasses with Stephen Quiller amongst others. A curiosity of painting materials and the way they work in practice is a core part of Nicki’s process and she has an international following for her work in this field of study. Nicki is a sought after tutor in the territory of the materiality of painting which crosses the boundaries across water media and oil painting. The culmination of this observance to painting and its structure has been the offer of  two highly sought after residencies in Ireland and New Mexico.

An accomplished musician, Nicki was a member of the English Baroque Choir, wrote Cross Arts Workshops for Opera Holland Park and was a pianist for the then HRH Prince Charles at Highgrove, Gloucestershire.

Nicki is an award-winning artist and has been published in several magazines including the International Watercolour Magazine as one of “5 Ones to Watch” and Artists and Illustrators magazine. Her work has had several nominations by the PleinAir Magazine’s PleinAir Salon Competition including best PleinAir Acrylic and best PleinAir Drawing.

She has been selected for several notable exhibitions in London including the New English Art Club (NEAC), Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (RI), Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and she is an elected member of the Royal Watercolour Society of Wales (RWSW).

Nicki was awarded a Fellowship at Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co Mayo, Ireland. Her work is held in the permanent collection of Ballinglen Art Museum and was selected to hang in the US Embassy as part of the Art in Embassies programme. In October 2023, Nicki was awarded a one month residency at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.