Nicole Cutts is an artist, teacher, healer and writer. Her artwork is a testament to her love of the spiritual, the sacred, and nature. She has a fierce desire to capture and preserve the magic and beauty that she sees in the natural and spiritual world. She is currently working on a series that represents her quest for images of female divinities. Entitled “Reclaiming the Goddess,” these brightly colored mixed media pieces offer visual representations of the sacred female across a myriad of cultures and from the collective unconscious. Nicole was moved to create these pieces to represent her personal and spiritual search for divine images that reflect who women really are. She had grown tired of the limited religious images offered to us in this Judeo/Christian/Muslim society so she went on an archeological dig of sorts finding that across all times and all cultures there have been real positive and powerful images of female deities. “This Goddess I know is out there and she’s within as well and in all lands and on different planes of reality. We knew her then and know her now. Slowly, she is revealing herself to me and her countenance is beautiful, terrifying and magnificent to behold. She creates as well as destroys, she is a Goddess of Love and of war and Peace, Art and Music. She is cunning, sexy, powerful and terrible. She is loving and omnipotent and kind…old as time and in the bloom of youth. She comes in every colour and shape that you can imagine. The variety of her armor is as boundless as the universe. She runs through forests, navigates the cosmos, swims the seas and commands the elements.” Nicole’s previous abstract series, "Gemini Visions" was spawned from inspiration received in a dream. These works are studies of color and design, combining Adinkra symbols from Ghana, Chinese kanjis, and natural elements, with a palette of deep reds, oranges, earth tones and gold. The symbols incorporated in these pieces convey positivity and remind viewers and the artist to stay focused on the spirit. Nicole is currently working on a series incorporating symbols to be used for the purpose of meditation. Some of her mixed media pieces also include elements of traditional collage technique. "Found objects" such as berries, bark, shells and feathers gathered on walks are captured on canvas, their natural beauty set off by rich color and texture. Nicole also paints landscapes that invite you into her magical world where sunlight and water abound. Her favorite subjects are seascapes; characterized by brilliant color and sharp detail, they represent the power of the ocean, the sun, and the moon. Nicole was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Maryland. As a youngster she enjoyed drawing, painting, and participating in local artistic competitions. She received her early training at the elbow of her uncle, George Rodney, a noted Jamaican painter. She later studied at the Corcoran School of Art, Howard University with Al Smith, and The American University-Rome. After college she moved to Los Angeles to obtain a doctorate in clinical psychology. Upon graduation she traveled to Morocco, Berlin and the western United States then “settled” back down in Maryland. In addition to teaching in the women’s studies department at The University of Maryland, Baltimore she resumed painting, sometimes taking excursions with her Rottweiler friend, Thurgood, out into the land along the Potomac River to paint the landscape. Today Nicole continues to travel and paint, forever in search of more beautiful horizons. When traveling to places like The Red Sea, off Egypt, Southern Africa, or the Caribbean, she writes and paints the landscapes there. “As much as I love to travel I want to be productive when I do, so I write and paint, to bring something back with me of the place. I also want to honor and participate in the beauty of creation. Really looking at nature and painting or writing about it is one way for me to do this.”
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