Taking refuge in paint: Following residencies in Ireland and Scotland, Northampton artist Nicole Gadon draws from the natural world

Artist Nicole Gadon is based in Northampton, but her work recently took her to two residencies in Great Britain and Ireland that have carried with her to her artistic practice here in the Pioneer Valley.

Gadon recently completed a month-long Watershed residency in Ireland, which provided her with studio space converted from a former fish factory. There, she spent a lot of time studying native plants and blanket bogs, both of which she photographed to use as reference material for future works. More recently, at the Linkshouse – Orkney Arts Residency in Scotland, Gadon spent time drawing, pressing, and painting seaweed and lichen, which she intends to use in future work as well. There, she also developed a strong interest in Orkney’s folklore, including Sea Mither, a mythical spirit who lives in the North Sea.

Both of Gadon’s residencies left her “very inspired” and with a renewed interest in Celtic folklore and legends, including Melangell, a Welsh hermit who protected a rabbit from a prince’s hunting dogs. Gadon created a series of works themed around Melangell’s story, about which she said, “I hope that these drawings and story will spur people to contemplate our relationship to wild animals.”

Neither residency was Gadon’s first time abroad – spending a year on a remote Norwegian island when she was 22 had a similarly inspirational effect.

“There is something about the raw connection to the elements, the quality of northern light, the smell of the sea and the constant birdsong in the North Atlantic that speaks to me,” she said.

Overall, Gadon’s artistic practice is inspired and informed by her love of the natural world and concern about climate change. In her painting “They Shall Inherit,” a girl stands alone, facing the viewer, in a barren landscape, holding an image of a glacier, as two pink conic forms like volcanoes spew smoke behind her. In “Girl With Albatross,” a female figure and an albatross sit across from each other on a glacier, both staring at an egg encircled by a golden halo, as if waiting for it to hatch. The human figures in these works are children, Gadon said, because “they will be the most affected by global warming.”

“In retrospect, I realized that there is a common theme of refuge in my exhibit, both the deep need for protection and the desire to provide it. The message is subtle and allows for personal interpretation. I hope that people will be moved by the work and think about our timeless connection to all living things, especially in a time when this relationship is both crucial and more and more inaccessible,” she said.

Gadon’s artistic career began when she was 7 years old, when she took lessons from a Sienese art teacher, Gino Conte, who told her, “Paint the sky any color but blue.” His lessons made her certain she wanted to become an artist someday.

Still, as an adult, she didn’t go into painting right away – she studied textile design at the Rhode Island School of Design, which she graduated from in 1974. She stayed in the textile industry for 20 years, working both in apparel and home furnishings; her clients included Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren, among others.

After those 20 years, “Due to life experience, I felt an increasing need to express myself, but lacked the means,” she said, so she pivoted to drawing and painting, which she studied at the New York Academy of Art and Brooklyn College. Living in New York City put her in close proximity to the Sienese masterworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“My technique is the same method that these painters used, egg tempera with gold leaf, but my subject matter is contemporary,” she said. “I would describe my style as lyrical, poetic, and somewhat surreal. The figures are symbolic. I refer to personal experience, art history and contemporary issues, such as climate change. I try to create an air of mystery, allowing the viewer to make his own interpretation.”

Gadon is an artist member of the Oxbow Art Gallery in Easthampton, which she said provides a “strong, supportive community.” She took part in a group show there last year, and in March 2025, the gallery hosted her first ever solo show, for which she felt “honored.”

Another source of pride for Gadon is her painting “Refuge,” which depicts a female figure and a bear taking shelter inside a cave within a snowy landscape. The work is based on a drawing she made more than two decades ago, and it draws inspiration from Sienese painting, which Gadon says connects to her former teacher Gino Conte, who first inspired her to be an artist.

“I am proud,” she said, “that [I] finally had the expertise and confidence to create a painting from an idea which has sat with me for so long and which expresses a universal human need in a poetic way.”

Carolyn Brown can be reached at [email protected].