Nicole Buffett, Artist, Nicole Buffett Studios
Nicole Buffett is an artist, activist and holistic healer. she was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1976 as the first natural-born identical triplets in Los Angeles. Nicole formative childhood years were spent living in San Francisco with her parents and grandmother, who were all creative leaders in the arts and humanities. Nicole Buffett has her MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute. Buffett has appeared on a multitude of media platforms such as; Oprah, Marie Claire Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, NPR and Fortune magazine. Nicole Buffett appeared in the documentary, 'The One Percent'. Nicole has exhibited her work in both national and international galleries consistently since 2004. Some of her achievements include being awarded an artist residency at the JB Blunk residency program and at the Djerassi Residency Program in Northern California.
Nicole exported and exhibited forty full-scale works that were auctioned and displayed at the Beijing Exhibition Centre in 2012.
One of the most significant experiences for Nicole was having lived and worked as a textile designer in Jaipur, India, for Anohki. This company has single-handedly preserved and proliferated the ancient methods of hand woodblock printing and textile design.
Nicole has studied and practised yoga, tea ceremony, meditation and is a certified Reiki healing practitioner. She sees making art as a bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds. Having been raised in a family of luminaries and creative professionals, Nicole feels it is part of her natural legacy and honour to contribute to our world and society through the arts.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram, because it was the first platform created for artists to feature their work utilising different filters. A "user-friendly" creative agency over images shared on social media amplified voices and vision and gave so many artists a fun and easy way to develop their brands.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I am an artist, specifically a painter. I sincerely enjoy being a member of the legacy of painting. Painting is its own constantly changing and evolving medium that allows the human hand and heart to remain at the source of its form. As an artist, I feel it is my responsibility to take in the current state of the world and return it back with a renewed, refreshed, transformed view that inspires or heals. Like music, art has the ability to bring people together, to share in a common ground of appreciation, storytelling and beauty. Art is the cosmic mirror assisting in the ability to ourselves.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I like that my career is intrinsically a means of healing, joy and culture creation.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I have ever received was from a professor while in the middle of a live figure drawing class. As we all feverishly attempted to capture the model, my teacher would walk around the room glancing at our drawings and slamming his hands on our tables. Then, he would yell, "If you aren't loving what you are doing, how in the hell do you expect anyone else to?".
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
All creative acts inspire me. From cooking to composing music to film to the visual arts, humans are "meaning-making machines". Integrating meaning and purpose into our creative acts is what motivates me. I am determined to utilise the full scope of the human experience to bring forth more beauty into our world. Mother nature is also my greatest inspiration. Being in nature, listening to her, witnessing the great intelligence of the wild is an infinite motivation and source of awe for me.
Sitting in meditation has always assisted me in moving beyond a place of "stuck-ness" into a place of stillness. From stillness, I feel deeply connected to the source and from connection to the source, I am able to channel my work. I am thankful to so many amazing teachers and thinkers who have helped me develop more self-awareness and realise as an artist and human. My grandmother exposed me to Tibetan and Zen Buddhism early on in my life. From Joseph Cambell to Chogyam Trungpa to Thich Nhat Hanh, these incredible teachers have guided me in my times of transition and change.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
I am proud to have been fortunate enough to know that I am an artist very early age. Simply put, I am proud to make art. I am proud to be a person committed to learning how to be more human, more loving, more compassionate and more alive. Art and spirituality are a match made in heaven.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
I have been learning to say yes to new and even uncomfortable opportunities to meet people and share who I am and what I do. My preferred way to meet new people is organic. As long as interacting and engaging with every chance I can to share, from online platforms to physical gatherings, I enjoy remembering that there is a person behind everything.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
The skill of perseverance and devotion to my creative self has helped me overcome any challenges and obstacles in my life. Art and the creative process is modern-day alchemy turning our "base level metal" suffering into phenomenal gold.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
I wish I had known that freedom is something that we give ourselves. Externals do not grant it. It comes from within and is accessed through our determination to be free and who we actually are.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I admire all artists who authentically follow their creative path. I also admire that so many people in positions of power and/or celebrity utilise that energy to help others. Some of my personal icons range from writer and visionary Paul Hawken to musician Amos Lee to fashion icon Vivian Westwood. I deeply admire every single small business owner and designer following their passion.
I have had the great opportunity of working side by side with incredible female innovators in the arts and culture industry. I have seen first-hand that all success and power come from a truly inspired desire to change other people's lives to bring more authenticity to our everyday experiences. I have been so fortunate to participate in developing innovative spaces devoted to fostering and nurturing the power that art has to make us happier, more inspired people.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I deeply enjoy connecting with animals and being in nature. It's essential to make time to connect with the people I love and share in meals, music and sacred ceremony. Over the last few years, I have been learning to play the African instrument called the Kora. The Kora is a twenty-two string harp that has been an amazing source of joy and exploration for me. I love learning about how to live better, how to love better, how to enjoy life! I love to walk, cook, hike, to commune with my world and friends.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
The pandemic has had more of a positive impact than a negative for my business. However, the most significant change it created was a more solitary time in my studio, honing my creative process and vision. The time and space to go deep within my connection. Leads to the purpose and message of my work have catapulted me into a deep space of clarity and focus.
The secondary positive impact of the pandemic in general, I think having to be at home so much has led people to realise how important art is in our lives and the impact art has on our emotional, physical and spiritual well being. I am finding there to be much greater demand and art appreciation now more than ever before. Finally, because of the inability to gather and have physical exhibits, I became more open to and fully absorbed in the NFT space as a brilliant way to share my work in the world.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I would say that my primary mentors are my Mom, Dad and Grandparents. I counsel with them daily and on all major decisions and choices that I make, both professionally and personally. I look to them as great examples of fellow free-spirited, open-minded creatives contributing to society through art, music, philanthropy and compassion.
I also feel that my close, small circle of friends are also my mentors, and I am theirs. I am always in awe of the power of leading by example and modelling human behaviour. We never stop learning how to be human. Remembering the extent to which others impress and imprint upon me inspires me to reach and embody greatness to inspire others as well. So I work on being the change, being the love, being the art.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
My advice for anyone wanting to pursue a career and life in art is never to give up. Keep following your nose, the senses that lead you to the places that activate you. Develop a routine in the studio. Make art a priority in your life. Make time to make art a priority in your life. Remember that everything is connected to everything else. How we are in our lives in one place; is how we are in our lives everywhere. So, let art-making be the place where you find yourself, where you remember yourself, where you heal yourself, where you forgive yourself, where you become yourself again and again. Start and don't stop!
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Failure is an idea. That's where all failure begins and where it also all ends. We have to commit to something regardless of how we "feel" about it. Sometimes, when I'm painting, I don't know why I am painting what I'm painting; sometimes, I don't even "like" what I am painting.
One of the most important elements of my process as an artist is to first and foremost be committed to the act of making art.
I make myself available to IT, and IT uses me. I serve the work-even if I am doubting; even if I am elated by it, the full spectrum of emotion will come up; that's the fun part. The most crucial part is that I am doing it.
I come to the creative process trusting in my creative self, devoted to my creative self. That's the antidote. Unconditional love and acceptance of our creative self far beyond emotion and likes or dislikes. We must commit to being artists. But, first, everything else happens from there.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"A spiritual person is a happy person. He/She refuses to compromise that happiness for any reason at any time." - Paul Ferrini.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Beyond Meat is a fantastic company that is helping so many people experience the benefit of cutting down or out their meat consumption. The Detox Market, a beauty supply chain committed to selling non-toxic, natural, ecologically sound products. Impact, a clothing brand, gives a large portion of proceeds to ocean conservancy. I am a massive fan of Miyokos vegan artisan creamery/cheese company - Miyoko is single-handedly making excellent vegan cheese that competes with real cheese and creates health options for people who want to have an alternative.
And last but not least is Case For Making, a small boutique based in San Francisco that makes hand-ground pigment watercolours, papers and art supplies. These companies and brands assist me in my everyday life to live in a way that supports and upholds my physical, spiritual, and creative values.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
I define success as the amount of joy we bring to ourselves and others. The extent of our joy is the extent of our success. The beauty of this is that we can find joy in anything, from our cup of coffee to the completion of a painting, to an amazing walk in nature. Being able and willing to appreciate our lives in the moments they are made of is a success. With each moment of joy, we gain the momentum of success, and our lives are fueled by joy, our success a measure of happiness. Our entire life is the art form. Caring for the beauty and serenity in our daily lives is the key to success.