Nicole Tijoux Lockdown Special

London based painter Nicole Tijoux answers our lockdown special Q&A. She has also been busy working in her studio and has a new exhibition 'Quarantine' that you can see here.

Right now I am working on... a new series of paintings and seeing a lot of Japanese anime movies.

At the moment I am working on... new colours, more acrylic paint and new environments. I'm trying to create the idea of water that I've sometimes dreamed of, so, I use my photos as a reference as before but now I'm leaving the realistic details only to small parts of the paintings, and I use more the accident of the water and diluted acrylic.

Over the course of lockdown, I have challenged myself to... paint at least one small painting or draw for day.

My proudest moment during lockdown has been... starting a new series of work using pen markers, dense acrylic paint, and ink in colours that I usually not use and that I have always wanted to attempt but never had the time before.

My biggest mistake this year was... not knowing how to make bread.

Recently I’ve been inspired by the work of.... Michael Armitage, the way he uses color!

Lockdown has been great for my creativity because... I understand how important is to make many drawing before try changes in your painting and how a small work can be that powerful as a big painting

When I’m stuck for ideas...  I usually workout

During Lockdown I was inspired to....  try a new way of working, which is… slowing down and taking time to work other materials, draw more instead of rushing to create a work for the next exhibition. Lockdown has given me time to breathe and re-evaluate my way of working.

The biggest lesson I have learnt in lockdown is… that sometimes things are beyond our control. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you, and it's how you respond to this that matters.

When I was a child I dreamt of… having my own castle and a lot of dogs.

My first job was… waitressing in a beautiful little café in Santiago.

My first big love was…my next door neighbour when I was 8 years old.

The first piece of art I ever bought was… a painting by Nathalia Bavarovic, an amazing Chilean painter.

My favourite record/CD cover of all time is… oh that it too hard, especially for someone like me who spends hours going through old records at op shops, but if I have to pick one Pink Floyd's “dark side of the moon”.

The best film/series I have seen in lockdown is… ah there are so many! Recently I loved the American series “the morning show”.

If I could see any musician (past or present) performing live, it would be… the Beatles in the 60´in London, Queen in the concert of Live aids ..

In the film of my life I would like to be played by… Nathalie Portman or Sandra Bullock, they are amazing in any character

My Avatar would be… Lakshmi, the Indian goddess of good fortune.

My guilty pleasure over lockdown has been… every day a bit of cheese with a glass of wine and fresh bread.

Over lockdown I’ve found myself cooking… some plates that I ate with my family when I was little, like many soups or a typical plate from my country Chile “caldillo de congrio” is a fish broth with cod fish, potatoes, onion, and celery.

My lockdown routine includes…. a green juice, then cafe. Then I check emails, after that I workout for almost 1 hour. Then painting until lunch, after that I take a walk around the corner to take some air, then back to home studio again until the dinner.

My last meal would be… all the antipasti from Italy and one or two Aperol spritz.

The last thing I do before I go to bed each night is... meditate.

The last thing I dreamt in lockdown was…. that I travel to Chile.

I am currently reading… an amazing book 'A bigger message, conversations with David Hockney' 

If I could be a mythical creature I would be…. a fairy with the ability to instantaneously magic myself and others.

The best gift I have ever received was… a doll house when I was 7 years old, it was amazing and big.

My grandfather always said…  'be brave, and take any problem as an opportunity'.

Post-lockdown, the first place I plan to travel to is... Madrid, Spain. 

If I take three things with me, I would pack… my boyfriend, my passport and my notebook.

If air travel was no longer possible I would… have a good cry and then start taking sailing lessons.

If I were a superhero I would be… an old fashioned, high kicking heroine with perfect hair and killer skin-tight outfits.

And my costume would be… inspired by Uma Thurman’s character in Kill Bill, but completely lacking in canary yellow.

If my art could work for a worthy cause, I would dedicate it to… any foundation of Children with cancer.

I imagine the post-lockdown future to be... slow but with a different view of reality, where is possible a better world.

If I could live in any one period of time, I would choose… the 1970´s. 

The most valuable lesson I have learned through lockdown is… you can do many entertaining things in your house.

If I were to get a tattoo to remember my lockdown experience, it would be… the symbol of waves that the Greeks had.

Now is the time for artists to go digital because…. it is the only way to share your work.

If I wasn’t so busy making art I would like to… do volunteer work at a children's foundation and teach art.

In the next year I hope to achieve… a balanced life, a happy home and a successful show.

You can explore Nicole Tijoux's beautiful oil paintings in her gallery.