Style Imitating Art…
Welcome to Style Imitating Art which comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Salazar is this week’s curator with this beautiful piece of primitive art. I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.
How it works…
Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. Salazar chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Salazar by Tuesday, December 16th, 2025 by 10 pm EST. Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here. Just a reminder…this is our last SIA until January 5th when I’ll be the curator for the first round of 2026!
The artist…
Dee Nickerson was born in 1957 in South Norfolk in the United Kingdom, near Wymondham. Now, not being from the UK, I have no idea where that is exactly. I did google to discover it’s about an hour and a half northwest of London. I’m hoping Shelbee will have lots more to share with you about this artist because I don’t have the superpowers she has! I wasn’t able to find out much about Nickerson, but I will share what I discovered.
A little more…
By 1962, Nickerson had already won painting competitions. She won the National School painting competitions in 1962 and 1967. In 1976, she began painting and drawing. In 1981, she was sponsored to exhibit at the Assembly Rooms in Norwich. The Assembly Rooms is a Georgian Grade I listed building. Nickerson had a second exhibition at the Assembly Rooms in 1982. She began a two year Foundation Course at Great Yarmouth College of Art & Design from 1982 to 1984.
“Growing up in rural Norfolk, far away from the madding crowd, I soon learned to use my imagination to entertain myself. Making and drawing have always been part of routine, along with wanderings about, and making time to stand and stare. Exhibiting from various galleries in East Anglia I paint from observation, memory and imagination (source).”
Still more…
In 1987, Nickerson began a ten year career at the Norwich branch of Liberty retail! I would be so distracted by the glorious fabrics and designs there. She first worked in dress fabrics then moved to fashion and menswear. She actually won a company design competition. Her dress was “made in the most amazing fabrics and sold in branches (source).” It was while working at Liberty she developed her love of design. This is reflected in her paintings with the women in them often dressed in marvelous fabrics. I’m not sure when she attended a Fashion Course in pattern making, but I would guess it was prior to her winning design at Liberty.
“Inspired by her love of fashion and day to day life in the countryside, Dee’s style is unmistakable. Her interesting approach to work creates charming visual narratives with playful scenes and intriguing characters. There is definitely an influence from her fashion interest which is visible in what the people wear in her paintings, this only adds to their compelling personalities.
To create these wonderful pieces, Dee will observe her surroundings on her daily cycle ride or perhaps on walks here and there and then go on to produce her unique work from scenes she has noticed. Dee’s choice of materials varies, but more often than not she will use acrylics and pastel (source).”
A skosh more…
Nickerson’s style is what many consider primitive. I would tend to put her into the same category as Grandma Moses. She captures ordinary life that reflects her earlier time in the fashion world. Her themes tend to be centered around being a woman in nature. Nickerson is a full-time painter and exhibits regularly at the Southwold Gallery. Here’s a lovely blog post with several of her creations.
“Dee Nickerson has a very personal style and broad appeal, with her paintings of everyday country life. She has a huge following, with many admirers and collectors or her paintings of changing seasons and the natural world. She may have spring captured in one image and summer in another, someone walking in autumn on Southwold beach or a wintry scene, all depicting little moments of ordinary life in East Anglia (source).”
The artwork…
If you’d like to own this particular piece of art, I believe it might actually be possible! It appears there is a limited run of 45 copies. If you google it, you’ll find quite a few galleries or vendors selling it. Here is the information from this particular site. The artwork is a signed Giclée Limited Edition Print on 100% cotton rag fine art paper. I checked for you…”Giclée printing is done with pigment-based inks with excellent resistance to fading and degradation. Acid-free archival-quality paper (or canvas) is favored, ensuring the inks won’t break down and the image will retain its impressive definition for many years to come (source).” In other words, this is not your mama’s photocopy of a painting! The measures 11.22 x 9.25 in (28.5 x 23.5 cm). If you buy it from this site, framed, it measures 18.31 x 16.9 in (46.5 x 43cm).
My interpretation…
This kind of stumped me for a bit. I see mainly cool blues with other colors thrown into the mix. I decided to go with my gut once again. It never seems to fail me for these SIA challenges. I started with my skirt. This is a Crepe Wild Rose skirt from Kantha Bae. I liked how the bottom ruffle has many of the colors contained in the art. Remember, I can’t link to my specific skirt because they are all unique, upcycled from old saris. I do really like the one I linked to, though! Next, I added an old tee from April Cornell. If you look reeeaaallly closely, you can see the crocheted ends of the sleeves peeking out. My completer piece is a Daisy Blouse from Kantha Bae. I’m not sure the pattern mixing shows up as well in the photos as it does in real life. My only problem with both items is…you probably guessed it…pockets! The skirt has none, probably because you could twirl this around and wear it any way you wanted. The blouse does have them…they’re under those little flaps on the front. But, they’re at a really awkward place. And, yes, my friends, those are four of the tubs in which my Christmas decor is usually placed. I just have to take them back out to the garage, but it was 5 whole degrees here today…that’s -15C for those of you in the rest of the world! There are two more hiding behind a recliner. I still need to find a few things before I can call the house done!
The Lewk!
If you’ve been around for long, you’ll quickly recognize these boots. They are the Leightons by Miz Mooz in the color, Ocean. I cannot say enough about these boots. They are so comfortable. I’ve worn them for Gallery Conversations when I walk through almost every gallery of the art museum for more than two hours. I was trying to inject more of the less dominant colors of the art with my jewelry so I chose these amber colored earrings and necklace from J Jill. The cool thing about this necklace (which appears to be sold out online) is that it’s two in one! If you look closely at the bottom left photo, you’ll see that it has a toggle. You can undo the toggle and just wear it long. I really wanted it to show up so I wore it shortened.
Wrap it up, Marsha!
I apologize for not being able to find much about our artist this time. I think it’s because she’s such a contemporary artist as well as being a primitive artist. So, can we talk? Are you surprised about her connection to Liberty? How big is the difference between being an artist and being a designer? How do you feel about primitive art? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as quickly as I can.
Don’t forget…
If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Salazar your photo by 10:00 pm EST, Tuesday, December 16th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on her blog on Wednesday, December 17th! If you’re interested in joining us, consider all of your options…the colors, the textures, the feelings they evoke! Come on, give it a try! I think you’ll love it!
Thank you!
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
Affiliate links, discount codes, and such:
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Where you can find me:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
I’m not sure if Jack nailed the challenge, but I like how soft and kind of ethereal (if that makes sense) your outfit looks.
I have never been a fan of primitive art myself enough that I would want to hang up one of them. This one evokes feelings of own walks a long time ago, though.
The artwork certainly depicts the cold temperatures that you are having. The blues matched the art well and your photobomber was a great addition.
Wow and thanks for this as I’d never heard of the artist but must look her up and maybe go to the gallery where she regularly exhibits because I absolutely love Southwold and went there this July for a week’s holiday. We are sure to go again. I love her naive take on winter.
I know it sounds silly but I’d love to have your cold temperatures. At the moment our winter has been far too mild and very wet, grey and windy. Cold temperatures with blue skies are so good to experience. And I have all the clothes for it too. That btw is a lovely outfit, but looks a tad cold for the temperatures outside!! I’m loving your wool challenge btw!
That is a very pretty outfit. We had snow this weekend and with the wind chill today it’s supposed to be zero here today. Zero! My phone says it’s 12 and feels like -3 right now…. making me very unmotivated to head to the gym this morning.