DARNELL NICOVICH

I am a native of the MS Gulf Coast. 

I received my  Artium Baccalaureate (bachelor's degree) in 1978 from Vassar College,  and my Juris Doctorate from the University of MS School of Law in January of 1981. 

 

I have had a life-long passion for art and the arts.   As a young girl of 10 or 11 yrs, I began to take art classes sponsored by the Biloxi Art Association on Saturday mornings at the Biloxi Art Gallery.  The gallery was located in a carriage house situated at the back of the property known as the Baldwin-Wood Estate. Located on Highway 90 overlooking the Mississippi Sound and Deer Island,  the property featured a beautiful Ante-Bellum home turned into tourist attraction known as the "House of Treasures."  At the Southern edge of the property, nestled among several gorgeous live oaks, dripping with Spanish moss, was an old wooden lighthouse.  Weather permitting, I would sit among the old oak trees, sketch pad, charcoal, and pastels in hand, sketching the home, the carriage house, and the old lighthouse, with Deer Island in the background,   

 

My days of art lessons and sketching on that beautiful estate ended on August 17, 1969 when Hurricane Camille destroyed my beloved House of Treasures and the old lighthouse.  Sadly the carriage house survived Camille, but succumbed to Katrina. 

 

At the age of 15, I took oil painting classes from a local artist for about 6 months.  Then life happened...  high school, band trips, boys...    followed by college, law school, marriage & family,  leaving little time for painting or other artistic endeavors.   

 

In the fall of 2008, with a seriously empty nest, I decided to give painting another try.  I ordered several "how-to" books,  bought a starter set of oil paints and a few brushes and set up my easel once more.  Shortly afterward, I had the opportunity to attend a painting workshop at the Walter Anderson Museum taught by internationally acclaimed artist Frank Janca, who was from Biloxi and was a childhood friend. At that workshop, I found my inspiration,  and my passion for painting was once again ignited.  Once Frank returned to the Gulf Coast permanently, I began to study with him in earnest, and continued to do so for the next seven years. 

 

I paint in oils.  My style is representational, (fairly realistic although not photo-realistic by any means)  I am inspired by the old Masters, using chiaroscuro techniques,  emphasizing the dramatic play of light against dark in order to achieve a sense of depth and realism.  My subject matter of choice vacillates between still life and seascapes,   

 

Painting is my way of keeping my sanity.    A domestic relations lawyer by day, I deal with unhappy people, and see the dirt and tragedy in their lives...  the tragedy of families being ripped apart,  their dreams being decimated by infidelity, alcoholism and addiction...   I deal with life's ugliness on a daily basis.    My painting allows me to put all of that aside for a while...  to immerse myself in thoughts of beauty and harmony, and for a few hours at a time, to forget about all that is ugly and unholy.   

Painting, for me, is therapeutic. 

 

Picasso expressed it well: 

 

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. " 
Pablo Picasso