Nick Vardack - Biography
As a young boy, I was interested in making things with my hands and often carved objects and fixed things around the house. I also loved being outside in nature observing animals, training my dogs and caring for and riding my horses. I was always able to draw well, but took this talent for granted. My first job after graduating from college was an industrial arts instructor, teaching woodworking, metalworking, drafting, and crafts. During summer "vacations," I worked in carpentry, masonry and construction. As my family grew, I bought sailboats, refurbished them, then the family and I sailed up and down the New England coast. I would use the boat for a season, and then sell it.
In my early thirties, a friend showed me drawings he made using Betty Edwards' Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I was impressed with his effort but felt I could do better. Using the book as a guide, I began drawing seriously and discovered it was a powerful personal way to express myself, something that I had been searching for all my life. It had been right in front of me. I've never looked back.
Soon I was experimenting with oil paint, then pastel and watercolor. I've always had a deep love of nature and love to be outside in the Cape Cod landscape. This was my first painting subject-the ocean, shoreline, sky, boats, bogs, and beaches. I began to integrate the creatures in nature that are so beautiful to me. More recently, human beings and the interesting things they do have become fascinating. I think that a viewer sometimes doesn't see the "story" that I'm painting. I've begun writing down some of the ideas behind a painting.
Memberships
OIL PAINTERS OF AMERICA (juried associate member)
DEPOT GROUP CATAUMET, MASS. (founding member)
BOURNE CULTURAL COUNCIL (1990-1995)
Art Education
Figure painting, master oil painting, John Kilroy, North River Art Association, Marshfield, Mass.
Plein-Air (oil), Copley Master Joseph McGurl, Cataumet, Mass.
Plein-Air (oil), Kevin MacPherson, past president Plein-Air Painters of America; author, Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light and Color Scottsdale Artists' School Jackson, Wyoming
Plein-Air (pastel) Shaunna Shane, Cape Cod, Mass.
Portrait (oil), Constance Flavell Pratt, portrait and court artist, Middleboro, Mass.
Portrait (pastel), Robert Cormier, former president, Boston Artists Guild, Boston, Mass.
Portrait and landscape (oil and pastel), Leeland Smith, Vesper George School of Art Middleboro, Mass.
Influences
Diego Velazquez, John Sargent, Anders Zorn, Cecilia Beaux, Nicolai Fechin, Richard Schmid, Clyde Aspevig
Style
Contemporary Realism
Media
Oil, Pastel, Watercolor
Subjects
Landscapes (plein-air and studio), Wildlife, Figures, Portraits, Still Life
Articles/TV
Featured artist, "From Concept To Canvas,"" November 12, 2004, The Falmouth Enterprise, Falmouth, Mass.
"Spotlighting Portrait Artists," Falmouth Cable TV, 1998
Teaching/Judging
2005 Judged (with Charles Parsons) Bourne–Wareham Art Association's 41st Annual Art Exhibit
2004 Taught basic drawing class, Cataumet Arts Center, Cataumet, Mass.
2003 Taught portrait class, Cataumet Arts Center, Cataumet, Mass.
2001 Taught plein-air workshop, Cataumet Arts Center, Cataumet, Mass.
1995 Judged Falmouth Academy Art Show
Exhibits
2007 West Falmouth Library (artist of the month)
2006 Gallery 333, 20th Anniversary Winter Exhibit (invitation)
2004 Harvard Club Landscape Exhibit, Guild of Boston (juried)
2004 Annual Artists' Studios Tour, Bourne, Mass. (invitation)
2002 Benefit, Bourne Conservation Trust (four artists)
2000 Masor Gallery Annual Figure Exhibit, Falmouth, Mass. (group)
1999 Gallery 333, Featured Artist, North Falmouth, Mass. (solo)
1998 Annual New England Exhibit, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, Mass. (juried)
1997 Landscapes and Figures, Cataumet Arts Center, Cataumet, Mass. (solo)
1996 Falmouth Artists' Guild, Best Oil in Show (juried)
1993 Annual New England Exhibit, Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, Mass. (juried)
1985 Falmouth Artists' Guild, Best Figure in Show (juried)