Nicole Barrette

Born on Vancouver Island BC, I've been exploring the mountain ranges of Western Canada since I was old enough to carry a backpack and creating art since I first picked up a pencil. Over the years, I've experimented with many media, eventually choosing to pursue acrylic painting at a deeper level. I'm fully self-taught and my journey with acrylic has been a creative and iterative process; my subjects have always been drawn from nature. I have a deep connection to the natural world and an understanding of our place within that has been further developed by completing a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science at UBC Vancouver. In parallel, I'm an avid rock climber which has enabled access to rugged and remote places.

More recently, I began to focus my passions together to create mountain-themed art and I've found inspiration in many wild places such as the Tantalus Range, the Bugaboos, and Rogers Pass. To fit the scale of my subject matter, I prefer working large-scale with acrylics on canvas, however I also use watercolour to capture the essence of the landscapes in real-time.

My art has been displayed in several venues across BC and in private collections around the world. I was selected as the live artist for the 2020 Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival and as one of the artists for the 2022 Artist in Residency Program in Glacier National Park. I am based out of Squamish BC and continue to explore and create in the Sea to Sky.

Artist Statement

My art is a reflection of my experiences. To a climber, the alpine world is a canvas, full of lines, potential, and possibilities. We feel the coarseness of the rock on the tips of our fingers and see the hidden linkup of paths that lead from the ground to the summit.

I aim to reproduce that feeling in my art using the human form, contrast, and perspective. It is of utmost importance to me that my art be based on real feelings and real experiences; I am constantly striving for authenticity. Through my art, I try to convey the rush of wind against your face as you balance on a ridge, a sense of foreboding as a storm rolls in, or the joy of seeing the sun rise from halfway up a mountain after sleeping out under the stars. My goal is for my paintings to serve as windows into this world of wonder and adventure. Contact

Commission Status: Closed

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