#Sharing – #NickiForde-Ficocelli at #LeesburgArtFestival

/ Marcia Meara

 
Nicki Forde-Ficocelli

My very good friend and fabulous cover designer, Nicki Forde-Ficocelli will be at the 42nd Annual Leesburg Art Festival this weekend, in downtown Leesburg, Florida. For those in the area, this is a great chance to see some fine art, including Nicki’s wonderfully whimsical paintings of cats, chickens, bumblebees, and more. I hope you’ll stop by and say hello to her. Here are the particulars:

WHERE: Downtown Leesburg, Florida
WHEN: Saturday, March 9 and Sunday, March 10 from 10am to 4pm
NICKI’S BOOTH:  700C (on 7th Street, just 2-3 booths off of Main)

Nicki Forde-Ficocelli is best known in Central Florida as a graphic artist, and she intends on changing that.

Nicki has been drawing since before she can remember, and that love for creating led her to study commercial art at International Fine Arts College in Miami (currently the Art Institute). While there she gave in to the fear of being unsuccessful as an illustrator, so changed her course in life and became a graphic artist. “I enjoy the work, but these last 25 years have felt a little like a dream deferred. So now I’m drawing on my heart for inspiration and the courage to put my work out there.” She considers herself an emerging artist, despite a long history of painting and illustrating, since her professional focus has been graphic design since 1994.

Recently, she’s been unable to resist the flow of ideas and inspiration that is leading her down a familiar but neglected path. These ideas are finding themselves on canvas by way of acrylics, or on watercolor paper through a combination of colored pencils and watercolor. “My muse comes from nature and often my sense of humor finds it’s way into my art.” Nicki doesn’t intend to light the art world on fire with her work, but she does want to light up your heart by putting a smile on your face.

Working from her home studio in historic downtown Leesburg, Florida, Nicki describes herself as “an artist, illustrator, crazy cat lady and crusader of kindness. My mission is to live with joy and compassion while spreading love through my art.”

To see more of Nicki’s art, check out her website, Drawing on My Heart, and her shop on Etsy, where you can buy her designs on greeting cards, invitations, and more.

Drawing on My Heart
Etsy Drawing on My Heart Shop

I hope some of you will be able to visit the festival for a wonderful day of browsing and snacking. Be sure to stop by to say hi to Nicki while you’re there.

And remember:

 

9 thoughts on “#Sharing – #NickiForde-Ficocelli at #LeesburgArtFestival”

    • Sorry if I confused you, MIriam. This event has nothing to do with me, and I’m not even able to attend as a shopper. (I’ll be at the Enterprise Museum today, presenting a slide show on Backyard Birds). This is all about my friend and cover designer, Nicki Forde-Ficocelli and her wonderful art. I just wanted to help her get the word out, but I do hope SHE has a big crowd. She deserves it! 😀

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    • Thanks, Staci! She’s been my friend now for nearly 15 years, and I’m always amazed at her talent. We started as gardening buddies, having met on the Florida Gardening forum, and our friendship grew from there. She encouraged me to start blogging way back then, and then encouraged me to write. Naturally, I asked her to do my covers, and I’ve loved all of them. Now, she’s branching out from her graphic design business and into painting the things she loves to paint. Her art is whimsical and fun, and I think she’s going to love adding this to her repertoire. 😀

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