Nicole Martinelli

Nicole Martinelli works in photography and hand-painted E-painting. Drawing on her experience as an oil painter, she uses a stylus and touchscreen to build digital compositions through a direct, hands-on process.

Flowers, landscapes and other natural subjects carry themes of change, resilience and renewal across both media. Her photographs preserve encounters with beaches, gardens, mountains and lakes, while her E-paintings develop imagined compositions through layered colour and form.

Originally from the western suburbs of Chicago, Martinelli is now based in the Pittsburgh area. Her early practice centred on oil painting, with photographs serving as reference material. She began exhibiting locally in 2014, including a solo presentation at Madame ZuZu’s. A later turn toward photography and digital painting expanded the ways she could pursue her interest in nature.

Her photographs are made on location in parks, on hiking trails and in rural landscapes. Colour enhancement, contrast and saturation connect these observed scenes with her interest in impressionist painting. In her E-paintings, the touchscreen becomes a surface for drawing and painting directly, rather than a substitute for choosing or capturing a photographic scene. Her exhibition history includes the Marblehead Arts Association, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild, alongside presentations in Italy, Switzerland and Austria.