Nina Sloan: Painting Nature, Memory, and Magic

This week, we’re honored to introduce one of our newest artists, Nina Sloan, whose work reflects a lifelong love of creativity, beauty, and the emotional power of nature.

For Nina, art has never been something distant or unreachable. It has been a quiet dream carried since childhood.

Nina grew up in Ukraine, where her earliest artistic memories were shaped by fairy-tale books filled with enchanting illustrations. As a child, she spent hours studying those images, imagining what it might feel like to create worlds of her own.

“Becoming an artist” was always a dream, but for a long time, it remained just that- a dream.

Everything changed after Nina moved to the United States.

Here, she witnessed something that amazed her: young people encouraged to explore, experiment, and pursue interests beyond traditional academics. Elective classes, pottery studios, theater programs, music rooms... Spaces where curiosity was not only allowed but supported!

She watched her daughters grow through these opportunities, one bringing home beautiful pottery from Boise High School, another taking horseback riding lessons and even flight training. Her own high school students excelled in art, orchestra, and theater while still fulfilling required coursework.

Creativity wasn’t viewed as extra- it was essential.

That shift was life-changing.

The moment Nina’s artistic path truly opened happened, when she was a teacher, during a home-visit with two of her students. She noticed a stunning painting in their home. When they proudly said, “We painted it,” something stirred.

Soon after, those same students and a teacher friend, Terri, set up an informal still life workshop. Just a butter squash on a table- a simple subject, drawn with a pencil.

But for Nina, it was magic.

The following weeks brought apples, a pomegranate, a jug of juice- small arrangements that created big momentum. With each drawing, she felt creativity return. Confidence built. That long-held childhood dream quietly stepped forward.

“That was my first baby step toward becoming an artist,” she says.

Not long after, Nina enrolled in oil painting classes and found the medium that felt like home. She still paints in the same studio today and expresses deep gratitude for Judy Holcombe, the teacher who helped guide her early steps.

Her paintings celebrate nature, movement, color, and emotional presence- not as static images but as living, breathing expressions of energy.

Why Nina Paints: When you view Nina’s work, you immediately sense her reverence for the natural world. Wind, water, trees, clouds, light- everything seems gently in motion.

“The essence of nature is constant movement,” she explains. “Painting is catching the moment of balance and losing it at the same time.”

For Nina, art is both grounding and transcendent. It challenges, teaches, surprises, heals, and opens space for joy.

Art, she believes, is a shared language. Nina states: "I want my paintings to create connections and touch peoples emotions."

Nina’s journey is not only about talent and persistence...it is also about encouragement.

She credits her daughters, friends, teachers, colleagues, and especially her husband, a talented artist who has walked with her through some of the world’s greatest museums and galleries. Their support didn’t just inspire her- it confirmed that she belongs in the artistic world she once admired from afar.

“It is important to believe in yourself, but it is also important to have somebody who believes in you.”

A Favorite Quote: Nina often reflects on a line by Claude Monet that feels beautifully aligned with her work-

“I would like to paint like a bird sings.”

Natural. Effortless. Free.

We are thrilled to welcome Nina to our artist family and to share her paintings here in Garden City. Her work invites viewers to slow down, breathe, feel, and rediscover the quiet magic woven into the world around us.

Visit the gallery to experience her pieces in person or view her work online at: https://creategalleryandframes.com/products-list/collections/nina-sloan

Create Gallery and Frames

3520 W. Chinden Blvd. Garden City, ID. 83714

Open Tuesday-Saturday, 11AM-6PM

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