Artist’s Identity :
Put the “once upon a time” beauty of Africa onto canvas before it's gone.
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Below a short YouTube film in French when Nicola was interviewed for the local television, TV78 : "Voyage au Kenya avec Nicola Risley". Click on the image below :
A translation of the YouTube’s text into English can be found here:
Born and brought up in Kenya, East Africa.
Daughter of an “x” District Commissioner (DC) in the British administration in both Tanganyika (Tanzania) and Kenya and grand daughter to one of the pioneers of that Great Land, Kenya. Her grandfather cleared totally uninhabited bush and forest to grow coffee at a lower altitude than Karen Blixen’s coffee, so his coffee grew successfully. Only coffee takes nine years to mature and it became mature at the height of the slump in 1929. He lost nine years of his own hard labour and all his finances. But that adventurous land had already stolen his heart many years back, as it did his family and grand daughter.
Nicola Risley has travelled extensively throughout Kenya and Tanzania and the African life is under her skin. She is fascinated by the Samburu, who are cousins to the Maasai, for their extraordinary attire and natural good looks.
She also marvels at the beauty and dignity of the animals – the elephants who quietly but majestically live through each day that they have.
Her style is African. It reveals a few wonders of the people, animals and scenery and reflects the colours of that diverse continent.
Nicola now lives and paints near Paris, France, and spends time each year at one or two particular places in East Africa or in the United States, where she lets the wonders and the way of life of the place seep into her system.
Self-taught, Nicola enjoys building a deep connection with the person or animal she paints.
“I work with oils on canvas – a slow technique, which enables me over time and through deep observation, to create a connection with my subject. This observation is very deep, to the point of feeling the soul of the person, that I bring to life on my canvas.
This connection gives authenticity to my work – and to my being.”
More on Nicola’s Story
Her father came to Kenya on his seventh birthday in 1921. His family lived in grass huts until this first house was built. The walls were made of “torchi”, mud and water stuck to an upright wooden-stick structure. The floor was just beaten earth.
Her father joined the colonial service in Tanzania in 1935, having spent one year in Kenya training with the Kenya police. After many years in Tanzania working as District Officer and then District Commissioner, he came to Kenya. He had the chance to work for a while in Kabernet where he met the Suk as they were called at the time, now known as the Pokot. He got to know the chief very well and a mutual respect grew between them. Nicola’s father was hence invited to some extraordinary events.
Above : This is one of those events: a Pokot dance and ceremony. The spectacular attires are no longer worn by the Pokot. These are photos of a vanished past. But they mean so much to Nicola.
When Nicola was growing up in Kenya, her family did not have television. Some evenings were spent watching her father’s slides. He was so proud to show the people he had met over the years and it clearly was an introduction to the ethnic groups of Kenya for Nicola. Now as Nicola looks back at those times and looks through the old photos, her desire is to capture something special from the past on canvas.
Her passion today is to continue meeting the extraordinary ethnic people of Kenya that still practice their traditions and wear their traditional cloths and jewelry. “There really are some fascinating, beautiful and diverse cultures in Kenya that I would like to share with anyone interested”, says Nicola. Her underlying wish – her “duty” as she puts it – being to participate in recording what is and what was.
Left : Shampole Maasai wife (50 x 50 cm oil on canvas) SOLD
Notice the the elaborate necklace with one part hanging from the ear lobes. The white beads are a sign of peace.