Nick Watson Art

Nick Watson began dabbling with painting in the early 90’s, using mostly materials he found at his local building supply store. He returned to painting in 2012 after a 10-year hiatus and in late 2014 took it up as a full-time vocation following his final retirement from government service. He graduated from using hardware store cast-offs to working primarily on wood panels and canvas with acrylic paints, inks, and mediums, with the occasional foray into mixed media, reactive metal paints, collage, and found objects. He is heavily influenced by a love of nature and the water, having been an avid surfer for more than 30 years, and the culturally diverse experiences of many years traveling the world.

Nick and his wife, Francesca, are co-owners of The Makery in the Texas Hill Country outside San Antonio, where he maintains a working studio (aka “The Lab”) and serves as roadie, random physical labor, and the plucky comic relief at every opportunity. As a highly-decorated Army and Marine Corps veteran with 20 years of active duty service, Nick is an enthusiastic supporter of the Gary Sinese Foundation’s home building projects for disabled veterans, and donates original work to each of their home builds in the Bulverde/Spring Branch area. Whenever possible, he enjoys listening to classic rock and blues music, preferably at top volume.

Just because…so I did….

After nearly three decades of slinging paint in several techniques and a lot of colors, one valuable lesson I've learned is …'less is more’.

After our catastrophic studio fire in 2023, I was having trouble finding a rhythm to ’start over’.  After exploring different techniques, I thought I’d try something new, again. What if I just used two colors - what would happen?

First I had to find the right colors. So, I pick two colors I’ve often used over the years as accent colors, or for ‘one off’ paintings. Now, usually I can’t do more than 2-4 paintings in a particular style/theme before I lose the ‘magic’. I think it’s because I try too hard to recreate that same magic, too much ‘intentionality’. But, with this ‘Two Color; series, I’m up to around 50 paintings, in three different two color combinations; the original blue and azo gold, red and teal and red and gold on black gesso…and I’m still going. However, in order to keep the spark alive, I thought about… 'what if I add a third color’, and it looks like I’m creating a ‘Three Color’ series as well.

Although only two (and three) colors, they blend and react to each other in different ways depending on their thickness, fluidity and mixing… there’s always a lot to look at. And, as they’re painted, you can watch the paint interact and bloom… like they are ‘alive’. And, when I come back after they’ve dried, they look different, again.

I’ve created these works in four sizes: 24”x12”, 36”x24”, 40”x30” and 48”x36”.  I may try to go bigger, but I work on panels and larger panels become more challenging, bulk/weight-wise.

BUT, there will be more.