Celeste Friesen-Nikkel

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artist statement

I love to “push paint around” as one of my colleagues observed; to experiment and improvise by mixing it all up…colours, forms, techniques, and textures. My work is inspired primarily by nature and especially the wild and magnificent scenery which surrounds me at my home at the tip of Cape Breton Island, N.S. Each of my paintings becomes an exploration of different approaches, techniques and/or materials, which might include inks, paints, collage, sand and stone…or whatever I think will best express the effect I am trying to accomplish.

I also love variety in my work, and the excitement of “pushing” mediums, paints and/or subjects in non-traditional ways. I hope that these approaches and elements allow the painting to speak for itself, and to the viewer.

selected biography

Cape Breton artist Celeste Friesen exhibits her award-winning work in numerous shows and galleries both in Cape Breton, NS and in the Washington, DC area. Her work is in private collections across Canada and the United States.

She exhibits regularly with the Cape Breton Artists Association, the Inverness County Centre for the Arts, and VANS. In Virginia, she participates in member shows with the Reston Community Centre for the Arts, the Artworks Group, the League of Reston Artists, and the Art League of Alexandria.

Her first solo exhibition was “A Celtic Discovery” in NS, September 2009;  in November 2009 she was the Featured Member Artist at the Cape Breton Artists Association exhibition at the Cape Breton University Gallery. Her most recent solo show was “A Celtic Imagination” held in Reston, Va in May 2010. Forthcoming shows include solo and member exhibitions in Reston, Va. beginning February 2011. She will have another solo show in Cape Breton at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts in August 2011, as well as group exhibitions with the Centre.

Celeste’s work is carried by the Watersedge Gallery in Baddeck, NS, the Coloratura Art Gallery on the Cabot Trail and the Third Meadow Gallery in Inverness, NS.