Nikki Bartel, I am a mother of five children from the youngest age of 10 up to 31. Five years after my youngest was born, I clamored to find the creative nexus of my life again. Through navigating my creative identity, I began to get to know myself in a way I had not for so long. I began to incorporate the magic of conscious parenting, spirituality and dream work into an artistry that is revealing my soul’s purpose.
I work primarily with acrylic and ink in a multi-layered approach, consistently challenging my creative process, my comfort zone, and the emotionality of storytelling. I have struggled through the identities of having been a Survivor, a Mother, and a bread winner. I worked through these struggles to integrate these identities as a means of freeing myself to be the artist I am meant to be. Through the challenge of “write yourself alive”, where I processed through writing every day for one year, I remembered my love of storytelling. Once I began painting, I realized that what I longed to be was a visual storyteller. I create in order to increase the dynamic between audience and author by examining emotions and investigating the duality of the light and dark of human experience.
When my youngest daughter began school, my newfound silence was deafening. In this newfound silence, I could now hear my own inner child asking to be seen and heard. Through this process we became the storytellers of Aspire, Dream and Jingle. I want to encourage others to be freed through finding their own inner storyteller.
I have been honored as Artist of the Month at Kave in April 2019 and was juried into the Fresh Art Show at Summit Artspace and the High Arts Festival. I was also chosen as part of a small selective group of artists for ReWorks Project to display my artwork, which was created from recycled and used material. In addition, I was selected as an Artist for Western Reserve Hospital infusion rooms.
I have also been featured by Voyage Chicago (December 6, 2018), Springfield/Lakemore Spectrum Channel 15 (July 12, 2017) Art Academy July Preview, and The Elevate Greater Akron – Blank Canvas project for the Greater Akron Chamber in 2019.
Voyage Chicago interview
http://voyagechicago.com/interview/check-nikki-bartels-artwork/
Springfield Channel video
https://www.facebook.com/springfieldlakemore1023/videos/1352038898244518/UzpfSTEwMDAwMzg4MDI3NTE3NzoxNDcyMDE5MTE2MjcwNzUw/
Greater Akron Chamber #leadgreater video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-E1TBWFvk&t=3s
I enjoy interacting with the viewer and have painted “live” for numerous causes and foundations some of them including:
• Project Learn
• Red Tie/Red Shoe affair for the Ronald McDonald foundation hosted at the Akron Art Museum,
• Relay for Life – Foundation for Cancer
• On the Table Talks – Inclusion within our communities and through the arts
You can connect with me and support me at the following locations:
Website: http://aspiredreamandjingle.weebly.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/nikkibartel
Blog: The Art of Peeling - http://artichokewoman.blogspot.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/aspiredreamandjingle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nikki_bartel
IG: https://www.instagram.com/nbartel/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aspiredreamandj/
Summit Live 365: https://www.summitlive365.com/artist/nikki-bartel/