Artist Statement
I am a painter working in acrylic, oil and watercolours. For years I would typically use brushes to apply the medium. These days my acrylics are more liquid and applied with tubes and moved about with large scrapers. The details are done with finer pallet knives and my fingers. My inspiration comes from, to a high degree from the extraordinary setting that I live in and the magical places I visit. I actually paint the paintings in my mind many times in advance. When I get the approach the piece needs I paint very quickly as if I’m streaming/channeling the ideas. There are no corrections there's just more painting and within hours I am usually close to completion. I will sign the piece so I won’t work on it anymore, then over night, or over the next day I will come back and make minor adjustments. In this way the pieces are fresh and expressive!I don't work to trends, I don't follow other artists so much. The world and life of an artist is journeying into the self alone. This taken to an extreme can make one antisocial but when in balance it works as a connection to the people outside because of its truthfulness. I feel fortunate that most mornings I simply walk out of my home only a few hundred feet, and enter my studio located in the renovated barn. I crank on the classical music and plunge into a new piece.
Born 1953 Sexsmith, Alberta
EXHIBITIONS:
2016 Splash of Red Caetani House
2015 Neil Erickson Gallery – Studio ‘E’
2015 Splash of Red Caetani House
2014 Splash of Red Caetani House
2014 Lake Country Artwalk
2012 Splash of Red Caetani House
2011 Splash of Red Caetani House
2008 November Pottery Road Art Studio
1997 September Marshall Clark Gallery Delta
1997 May Java Man Delta
1994 May Waterline Studio Delta
1993 May Waterline Studio Delta
1991 August Queen Elizabeth Theatre Art Gallery Vancouver
1990 June Waterline Studio Delta
1989 November Waterline Studio Delta
1988 September Surrey Art Gallery Surrey
1988 August LaRaffinage Vancouver
1986 November Waterline Studio Delta
1983 March Paperworks Gallery Vancouver
1982 October Toni's Gallery White Rock
1981 March Barroco Gallery Vancouver
1980 October Robson Square Media Centre Vancouver Sell Out
Education:
1972 UBC Fine Arts Program - Instructor; Tony Onley
1973 Vancouver School of Art now known as Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Awards & Nominations:
Commissions: Mayor’s Office Delta BC
1997 BC Children's Hospital sold 45,000 of Erickson's donated image for their holiday greeting card fund raiser. Neil's "Jumping for Joy" card raised $45,000