156 x 106 cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas

Framed in american ash

152 x 152 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

I love the salty sweet of bananas cooked in miso, umami heaven. In this work I tried to balance colour in the same way as flavour. Hopefully creating a painting with warmth, that’s balanced and rich.

120 x 90 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in American Ash

180 x 120 cm

Framed in American Ash

This painting is a celebration of green, all the different types of green we see in the edible world- sitting happily next to each other. It’s impossible for two greens to clash in nature so I tested this theory here with viridian green and sap green together.

I was very inspired by nasturiums for this painting, cooking Max Gordy’s nasturtium Tamales to start then Spigas nasturtium pesto

102 x 120 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

2021

Oil and mixed media on wooden panel

30 x 40 cm

Framed in American Ash

I’m fascinated by oyster mushrooms, they are both delicate and strong at the same time. I made this work in response to an oyster mushroom lasagna that I made for recent Art Lunch.

80 x 50 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

82 x 82 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

Inspired by Chef Max Gordy’s fejoia and brussel sprout recipe.

20 x 30 cm

Oil and mixed media on board

This is a small work from my cookbook series, although its a small work, there are parts that glow. I haven’t framed this work because I love the drips down the side. Like sticky juices that tell the story of the colour / flavour beneath.

30 x 42 cm

Mixed media on a paper

In a mount ready to frame

Free international postage

The title refers to the recipe that inspired it.

2021

An Unlikely Comb

Oil and mixed media on board

180 x 120 cm

This piece came about after I asked Chef Max Gordy to give me some examples of some unlikely combinations of flavours. Ingredients that you would never thing would go together. Feijoa and Brussel Sprouts was one of the examples. The recipe was incredible, the flavours were so intense and so different. Inspired by opposites and how well they could work together, I couldn’t wait to paint. I would bring the ingredients into my studio so I could colour match but also feel the personality of the flavours and ingredients and somehow try and get that across in the work.

Lightly Toasted
130 x 80 cm
Framed in american ash
Oil and mixed media

120 x 300 cm

Oils and mixed media

This painting was made in response to a variety of beautiful mushrooms, including oyster, shiitake and lionsmane.

I had an amazing experience visiting Ora Mushroom Farm in Mangawhai. Here Ora talked about each mushroom variety having a personality. This resonated so much with me, as I’ve always felt vegetables are not merely things. They have personalities and whims. I also made this painting in collaboration with the chef Fabrizio from Spiga Restaurant in Auckland. Fab and I talked about what ingredients to use for an Art Lunch and he was very happy to use mushrooms. He advised me to visit Ora Farm and he created a beautiful ora mushroom risotto for guests to enjoy while looking at the mushroom painting.

The title for the painting comes from a conversation I had with Ora about the lionsmane variety of mushroom, “she is very spoilt, she does what she wants, but we forgive her because she is a very beautiful mushroom and so healthy.’

45 x 56 cm

Mixed media on cold pressed archers paper

25 x 32 cm

Mixed media on paper

In a mount ready to frame

Free international postage

30 x 40 cm

Mixed media drawing

I made this work in response to the many Ottolenghi turmeric recipes that I made before I embarked on a large painting in this colour palette.

106 x 156 cm

Blue spirulina took me down a rabbit warren of blue exploration in both my kitchen and studio. The health benefits, the ultra marine blue colour - everything about this discovery was fantastical.

30 x 42 cm

Mixed media on paper

In a mount ready to frame

108 x 158 cm framed in american ash

Turmeric was the starting point. I cooked as many Ottolenghi recipes where turmeric was given the opportunity to shine. From pancakes, to pickled parsnips, to curries - all lit up my kitchen and studio.

22 x 32 cm

Original drawing

In a mount, but not framed.

60 x 60 cm

Oil and mixed media

This work was made in response to my explorations with aubergine. Such a beautiful vegetable that transforms so much during cooking. I made aubergine dumplings and baba ghanoush

Oil paint on board

22 x 35 cm

This little work came about while I was working on a much larger painting, inspired by lush green ingredients. It has a lot of detail underneath, but in the end this simple yet strong composition appeared. My eye keeps getting pulled towards it, in the studio, it might be small but it’s got something about it.

Note - the painting is just sitting in the frame, not attached yet, hence it doesnt look even all the way around. It’s a brand new work.

22 x 32 cm

Drawing

In a mount but not framed. Free international postage

22 x 31 cm A4 size

Oil and mixed media

Framed in American Ash

30 x 45 cm

Original drawing

Inspired by black tomatoes and the human touch

In a mount, but not framed.

Drawing and collage

22 x 31 cm

In a mount, but not framed

With free postage

30 x 40 cm

Mixed media drawing

Free postage

30 x 40 cm

Oil and mixed media


I’ve become very interested in blue spirulina, the superfood of all superfoods. It has a long and impressive history. This lead me down the blue and white story of the willow patten on plates. The colour is a rich ultra marine blue, just like that of the blue spirulina. I have made blue pasta dough, blue aoili and other blue food with blue spirulina. Giving the food a nutritional boost, but also playing with the colour and flavour associations. The mind normally assosicated sweet with red, sour with green, salty with white and black with bitter. But what of blue, normally it’s blue because of food sweeteners and blueberries. So it was unusual to eat savoury blue foods.

Mixed media on paper

22 x 33 cm

Oil and mixed media

Mounted but not framed.

Free worldwide postage

Drawing and collage

22 x 31 cm

In a mount but not framed.

Oil and mixed media

Framed in American Ash

33 x 45 cm

Drawing on archival paper

In a mount, but not framed.

What I enjoy about this drawing is the saturated opaque sections and the translucent grey marks. If this was a meal, it would be balanced - salty, sweety, umami and sour. Creamy but with texture, the full mouth feel.

2022

Mixed media drawing

30 x 40 cm A3 size

Mounted but not framed

Free international postage

This one presses all the flavour buttons for me. With the primary colour palette leading the way, there is an appealing child like playfulness.

20 x 30 cm

Mixed media on paper

Mounted not framed

Free postage anywhere

It’s winter in New Zealand, a time of cosy fires and comfort food. I have been loving Ixta Belfrage’s new book Mezcla and took inspiration from one of her stunning chocolate, praline, icecream miso puddings.

22 x 32 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in American Ash

Mixed media drawing

22 x 33 cm

Free postage

Mounted not framed

30 x 40 cm

Oil and mixed media on board

Framed in American Ash

I’ve only just experienced the delight of banana and miso together. So good. I think it’s like salted caramel, that whole sweet and salty working in perfect harmony. With all my senses fed I was inspired to paint this work. The colour palette is sticky sweet and there is a tiny spot of glorious yellow at the top right that makes my heart sing. I think it’s a happy upbeat painting yet strangely calming with it’s muted hues.

Mixed media drawing on paper

22 x 32 cm

Mounted not framed

Free worldwide shipping

I love working with black garlic, especially the sticky, sweet, pungent punchy flavour. This has inspired me with paintings and drawings.

Mixed media drawing

22 x 33 cm

Mounted not framed, free worldwide postage.

20 x 30 cm

Mixed media on paper

Free postage

20 x 30 cm

Drawing

Mixed media on paper

Free postage, mounted but not framed.

2021

Though Unorthodox

180 x 120 cm

This piece came about after I asked Chef Max Gordy to give me some examples of some unlikely combinations of flavours. Ingredients that you would never thing would go together. Feijoa and Brussel Sprouts was one of the examples. The recipe was incredible, the flavours were so intense and so different. Inspired by opposites and how well they could work together, I couldn’t wait to paint. I would bring the ingredients into my studio so I could colour match but also feel the personality of the flavours and ingredients and somehow try and get that across in the work.

150 x 130 cm

Oil and mixed

Framed

156 x 106 cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas

The inspiration for this painting came from a beautiful salad with orange, fennel, radicchio and dried cherry labneh. What I loved about the salad was the sweet, sour, salty and creamy combination. I tried to recreate that perfect balance in the painting, with colour, texture and form.

120 x 120 cm

Oil and mixed media

Unframed

2022

Mixed media drawing

30 x 40 cm A3 size

Free international postage.

Winter is a time for comfort foods and pumpkin is one of the ultimate vegetables that can deliver sweet, richness. I’m forever searching for the perfect balance in a recipe with saltiness, sweetness and acidity. Painting also requires a perfect balance, but with colour, shape and form. This warm palette will always remind me of cosy delicious winter nights.

2021
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
75 x 75 cm

In a black float frame

This painting was made in response to Ottolenghi’s Hasselback Beetroot with Kaffir Lime and Salsa. Beetroot is the most wonderful colour and flavour and absolutely loved painting and cooking about it.

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2021

Oil and mixed media

65 x 65 cm

2021

Acknowledgements - The Allium Family

100 x 100 cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas

Shallots fascinate me, with their beautiful copper pink skin and how versatile they are to cook with. This painting is dedicated to the Onion Family.

I Don't Normally Celebrate Valentines Day

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
150 x 150 cm

This piece started off being as a Cherry and Kumera dish, another Max Gordy suggestion of stone fruit and sweet potato. Unlikely combinations. But then I had another Chef friend cook me lunch with this incredible roasted beetroot. So the painting morphed into something more savoury, yet undeniably sweet.

Make an inquiry

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2021

Oil and Mixed Media

20 x 30 cm

Made in response to my deep love of pink oyster mushrooms

In The Time it Takes

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

120 x 90 cm

There are so many processes in my kitchen and my studio that I relish in. Often, they can be complete opposites, I could be delicately picking herbs, or beating eggs and sugar together. I could be quickly frying or waiting for dough to rise over night.

The transformation of ingredients into a meal to share or tubes of paint and a canvas into a painting that might evoke a response in the viewer. That transformation keeps me coming back for more, it’s addictive and it’s what my hands love to do most.

Make an inquiry

2021

We Took Our Cutlery to the Beach

100 x 100 cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas float framed

My family and I love adventures and being outside, together. When delicious food is added to that mix it’s happy days. To me this painting is warm and upbeat and full of the joys of summer eating.

2021

Oil and mixed media on board

65 x 65 cm

This painting was influenced by figs and oranges from my garden. Autumn is my favourite time of year for fruits and vegetables in season and the gentle sunshine.

I thought of calling the painting ‘Lavender and Turmeric’ as a nod to all the bed linen companies that use food names for colours, to evoke an emotional response.

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
120 x 90 cm

Is your morning ritual the same every day, or do you mix it up? I’m a creature of habit, mine is nearly always the same. I have tried to mix it up with green smoothies and other ‘healthy options’ but it never lasts. What I really fancy is a cup of tea and some avocado on toast. This makes me happy. My love affair with avocado goes deep.

I often wonder if it’s a good idea to share the exact inspiration for a painting, in case the viewer only sees that thing I’ve shared. But maybe not, people have mentioned the painting has evoked other things for them.

Make an inquiry

2021

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

From the cookbook series, this A4 sized work references recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks. Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2021
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
180x 120 cm

This painting was a commission from a lovely family in Wellington. We shared a love of Pink Oyster Mushrooms so I created a painting with all the colours and flavours of Ottolenighs ‘Mushoom Taco’s’. Which included orange, red onion, lime, avocado, coriander, pink oyster mushrooms and more. See the video about this painting on my home page.

Make an inquiry

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
150x 150 cm

Make an inquiry

2021

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

From the cookbook series, this A4 sized work references recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks. Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Oil and mixed media on board

20 x 30 cm

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2021

Big Flavours

20 x 30 cm

Oil and mixed media

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks. Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

65 x 65 cm

I was so inspired by an incredible apple pie in the glorious book ‘Cannelle et Vanille’. The wafer thin slices of apple sat adorned by cinnamon. However, the painting took on a life of it’s own as most paintings to. The end result was something more bodily, organic and sensitive. With every painting and every meal I create it’s made with all of me. Not just my touch, or just my eyes, but all of my senses - working together, informing each other.

Make an inquiry

2021

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

$650

From the cookbook series, this A4 sized work references recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks. Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

Make an inquiry

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

$650 NZD

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

2019
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
65x65cm

Comes in a beautiful high quality handmade walnut box frame

‘p25’ references a book. I don’t like to say what inspired me from that page number and from what book, as the viewer often then sees only that thing. The openness of page numbers means it could be from any book, therefore being different for every viewer.

I work mainly in oils and pastels. I love the differences of wet and dry media. My process is about the gathered information from cooking and the feeling about that particular food.  

Make an Enquiry

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
120 x 90 cm

I experience colour like flavour. I like to think of how a chef might test flavours - how they sit together, compliment each other, sing louder than other flavours. This is what I’m doing in my studio, I’m ‘taste testing’ to get the colours just right.

I believe the senses are intertwined, rarely do we experience one sense in isolation. For example we pick something up to eat it. I’m also fascinated by the imagined senses, for example, we might see a food image with our eyes yet our body knows and remembers that taste.

Make an inquiry

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

$650 NZD

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

Framed work on paper

46 x 52 cm

$900 NZD

This piece was created from a collaboration I did with an amazing chef. She had to cook in only black and white and I made a body of work in response to watching, listening, smelling and tasting her amazing creations.

Make an inquiry

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
76 x 80 cm

I have tried to be loud and quiet, bold and sublte, small and big, crunchy and soft. Maybe the the contrasts and qualities I search for in my cooking too.

I don’t always get that balance right. But that’s okay, with each experiement I learn something new, becoming more confident in the end.

Make an inquiry

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
65 x 65cm

Have you had ever eaten something that has transported you to a time and place? I love how food can do that. In times like that food is so much more than something delicious for our taste buds. It’s a bodily experience, even an emotional experience. In this playful painting, I’m celebrating all that is sweet, delicious and remembered.

Make an inquiry

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

$650 NZD

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

Make an inquiry

2020
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
120 x 120 cm

It was just before three that this painting revealed itself to me. I was rushing before I picked my children up from school, the painting almost painted itself. I was excited as I left my studio, wondering if I would feel the same way when I looked at it again the next morning. To my delight, I loved it more. The relationship of the marks, the sense of movement, the quiet and the bold - all play a part in it’s success. This is the direction I see my work heading in the future.

Make an inquiry

100x100cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas

With ‘Rose Tinted Glasses’ is how I like to function everyday. While I paint, cook, be with my family. The world just looks better that way.

Make an enquiry

170 x 70 cm

Unframed

Build from many layers and ‘flavours’ this piece is subtle and sits beautifully in a busy room.

Framed work on paper

46 x 52 cm

This piece was created from a colloboration I did with an amazing chef. She had to cook in only black and white and I made a body of work in response to watching, listening, smelling and tasting her amazing creations.

2020

Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

20 x 30 cm

$650 NZD

These small works were made in collaboration with Chef Timo Dicker. I responded to his cooking and he responded to my paintings with an amazing menu.

Each work is A4 size to reference recipe pages and the sensory pleasure of making. They have the weight and hand feel of a recipe book. I love working this size, there’s something special about the intimate hand feel.

In comparison, working on my larger 180 x 120 cm paintings, requires a different painting approach. I find myself immersed in making big bold bodily gestural marks, followed by considered deliberate marks.

Some experiences take you to another place, a different place. Behind each mark, under a certain layer, behind a certain shape lays the history of the mark before. Each mark is made in relationship to what is already there. My visual vocabulary has developed, evolved and grown through my experiences in my studio and kitchen.

Framed work on paper

46 x 52 cm

This piece was created from a colloboration I did with an amazing chef. She had to cook in only black and white and I made a body of work in response to watching, listening, smelling and tasting her amazing creations.

.

Make an inquiry

 2019
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
79x79cm

2019

180x120cm

Make an enquiry

100x100cm

Oil and Mixed media

2019

‘Just Bring Dessert’ was inspired by a moment in the kitchen that involved cream and toffee sauce. Salty and sweet. Creamy and rich.

2019
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
150x130cm

Comes in a beautiful high quality white box frame

‘That Time of Year’ was created at ‘that time of year’ when Autumn colours glow, screaming out to me “look how beautiful I am”! The trees with bright yellow leaves look to me like lamps left on, to brighten those dull Autumn days. But I think my attraction to this Autumn colour palette naturally found it’s way into my studio. The real motivation behind this painting was Swiss Chard, but other people talk of rhurburb and icecream. That’s the joy of abstract art, it can be anything to anyone.

I hope it’s the kind of painting that would keep you coming back, time and again to find new sections of surface texture that delight. It took me many months to paint, a relentless search for that visual beauty or visual feast that would make my mouth water.

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2019
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media

Leave to Soften

This painting was chosen to be one of the star paintings in the event Feast. Executive Chef Timo Dicker responded to my painting by creating this dish -

Semolina pasta Ravioli; ricotta & salted lemon/ broad beans/ mustard leaves and flowers/ broad bill/ split sauce of green oil and fish crème

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See the Forest

 2018
Nicola Bennett

Mixed media on canvas
760 x 1500mm

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Framed work on paper

46 x 52 cm

This piece was created from a collaboration I did with an amazing chef. She had to cook in only black and white and I made a body of work in response to watching, listening, smelling and tasting her amazing creations.

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