I'm an Atlanta native specializing in contemporary oil paintings. I grew up in a family in which art was highly valued. My art education and practice were encouraged from as far back as I can remember.  My father, Jack Niles, was a fiercely independent creative who demonstrated the need for simultaneous creativity and discipline. I studied Fine Art and Design at the University of Georgia. My education as an artist continues through persistent painting, exploration, artists’ residencies, and study of past and present artists.

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My work is driven by my interest in nature, minimalism, and color interaction. My roots are in landscape but my work has evolved into more refined, abstracted paintings that sometimes include a real or imagined horizon line.

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My process involves applying oil and allowing it to dry between applications. This technique creates texture, reveals ghosted underpainting, and forms colors by overlapping hues as opposed to mixing. Sometimes these veneers are almost undetectable but they provide an element of mystery, and most importantly, allow the viewer to see my personal conflict of push and pull in the building of these paintings.

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I follow a course of simplifying and complicating until the painting starts to emerge and shaw a hint of what IT wants to be. I'm not so much a make-it-happen artist as a let-it-happen one.

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I trust my brush and my canvas, solemn partners to have their say. They sense my touch and vision; share my self-arguments, the fright, daring, and patience it takes to create a painting… with a soul.

That never quite dries.

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My paintings are prominently displayed in fine homes and corporate collections around the country and as far reaching as New Delhi and have appeared in many national publications. 

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