Nina Gates is an American realist painter from Texas, with the international sensibility and perspective cultivated by a life of global travel and living. The daughter of an executive, she was educated at a University in Ohio, and commissioned as an Army officer, serving in Military Police and Military Intelligence units. She began painting figures in a local studio on weekends while working at the United States Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nina's works include landscapes, still life, human and animal figures and portraits. Her singular technique is a sophisticated balance of control and spontaneity. Glowing with sublte tones and elegantly glazed shifts of color, some areas of her work are so finely and precisely drawn they apprear almost photographic. Thoughtful planning goes into edges--soft edges, firmer edges, hard edges that delineate and define with rigorous severity, and edges that disappear like smoke.  Other areas are loose, gestural and textured, supporting thick impasto that begs to be touched. The result is a timeless masterwork created with formal nineteenth-century European painting methods that feels natural, animated, and modern. 

 

In her free time Ms. Gates is a passionate equestrian. A former horse trainer and riding instructor, she says she'll rarely turn down an opportuity to paint horses or dogs. She is a lifelong sailor and happily grabs her gloves as pick-up crew when an extra racing hand is needed. She also enjoys books, great restaurants, and interior design. Her studio assistant is a German Shepherd named Indiana Jones who often sleeps on the job. 

-H. Cordova