Niki Hare

Niki Hare is a self-taught artist whose paintings reveal words of emotional honesty. She describes her word paintings as “writing themselves with no restraint.” Hare’s method of working involves layering paint and scraping back the layers to form textures. These layers and textures create a surface that seems to breathe life into the messages that are laid out before us.

After putting her artistic pursuits aside for 20 years to work with horses, Hare has come back to her art with passion, commitment, and an energy that is apparent throughout her work. She currently lives and works in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England.

When and where do you like to create?

Answer: I love my studio which is the flat below the one where I live. It is far from perfect and way too small, but everything is there and there is sort of a balance between complete chaos and semi-organized chaos. There is something great about being surrounded by anything you could possibly need. working away from the studio you inevitably want something you haven’t got. I am in the studio every day but my work hours vary. Sometimes I work evenings and nights, and other times just days but rarely early mornings.

What is your most important artists tool?

Answer: My text-based works first came about because I found some letter stencils in the local stationers. In the beginning, I just used them in abstracts for their shapes. Then it occurred to me that I could actually say something with them. I still have all my original stencils, these are now quite sculptural due to the buildup of paint over the years. I am always finding new additions to my collection as well as making my own.

Coffee or Tea?

Answer: Coffee, lots of and strong.

What is your cell phone wallpaper?

Answer: One of my best jobs ever was designing the graphics on a snowboard for Burton. My phone wallpaper is of Ben Ferguson riding my board in the half-pipe at the 2017 US Open Snowboarding Championships. So cool!!

Website: https://www.nikihare.com