Oil Paintings
Nikolo Balkanski plays with light and texture, employing strong thick brush strokes to convey a complete image.
Within his landscapes, pallet knives layer pebble upon rock, creating depth until streams appear to trickle from their frames.
“For me it is a real luxury to work on location,” Since his move to the States, his work has undergone a natural metamorphosis. The subjects he paints are not the only things that have changed, but his techniques as well. “Before I did the Baltic Sea, and now I do the mountain streams of Colorado.”
Art critics call Balkanski an impressionist – but more complex. Upon seeing Nikolo’s exhibition in London, John Allen described his work as “Alert, a moment of being, engaged with a world that could dissolve to chaos but harmonized by attention…moment of meaning the fateful conjunction of type, personality and environment.”
In 1984 and again in 1985, Nikolo was invited to Colorado to paint and to exhibit his work, but he returned to his home in Finland. After his relocation to Evergreen, Colorado, in 1986, Nikolo began devoting more time to painting the western US landscape, although he continues to paint portraits, still lifes and figurative works to this day.
Over the years, Nikolo has been involved in countless solo and group exhibitions, including Artists of America, Great American Artists, Artists of the West, The Brinton 101, Oil Painters of America, Stampede Western Invitational, Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, The Russell Exhibition and Sale, Western Visions and others. His works are represented in private, corporate and museum collections.
Nikolo received his formal training in Bulgaria and Finland and currently lives and works in Lakewood, Colorado.