Meet the Artist

Nick Van Dyke, the Artist, has been creating art his entire life.
"I always wanted to be like my big brother who does art also. All through school I was known as the "art guy"."
I Attended California Baptist University, Riverside, where I majored in Art. My life took a turn, I got married and had a family. So, for a long while, about 20 years my art dreams were put on hold. We moved to Cottonwood from Gridley and built our dream home in 2004. All three of our children graduated high school from Red Bluff and or West Valley High and all have since graduated from California Baptist University, mine and my wife Cathy’s alma mater. We also have four grandchildren.

I am now at the point I can begin to follow my Artistic aspirations. To get to the point where my dream of being a classic artist, drawing and painting on my own schedule and time frame, I am exploring many venues to get my artwork known as well as my name.
On a whim I started custom painting shoes, first for my daughter-in-law and I have been painting shoes on a consistent basis for the past several years.
I have painted murals in homes as well as my own, which led us to starting a Paint Party venture. We are a mobile Paint Party Business. We can come to you at your home, a restaurant, or we even host at our Home Studio.
Given the opportunity I will always go back to a good ole #2 pencil and draw. I am currently working on a few series that involve both graphite and colored pencil, one of various wildlife with fish, flowers in black/white and also color, and the other of buildings from California Baptist University. I am also using acrylics and oils in an American Flag series and other paintings of nature. My use of color brings out certain parts of each picture, like highlights almost 3-dimensional. I continue to explore different forms of art and mediums. I look forward to seeing where God leads me in my artistic endeavors. He receives all the glory!
And as they say in Peter Pan...find your happy place and you can fly!