North Sacramento resident Kurt Nicknig is next to a painting he did of his late grandfather holding two horses by their leads. Nicknig is at the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District’s fine art studio at the district’s location next to Depot Park in Rio Linda. The studio is open from 9 a.m. to noon Thursdays. Photo by Seth Henderson

 

RIO LINDA, CA (MPG) – From 9 a.m. to noon Thursdays at the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District, all are welcome to attend the fine art studio for free, located in the recreation center at 810 Oak Lane, Rio Linda. 

Hosting the studio sessions is North Sacramento resident Kurt Nicknig, who said he has been practicing art since he was in high school but didn’t study art professionally. Nicknig said he has always been able to look at a photograph and copy it. 

Nicknig brought in a painting that he had been working on for the past few weeks, using an image of his late grandfather from the 1920s, holding two horses by their leads as a reference point. He painted the canvas with oils, experimenting with different colors, making it “more fun.”

“These photographs were found after my mother passed and I think he (Nicknig’s grandfather) was standing in front of a farm somewhere in Yuba City,” Nicknig said. “Marysville area, maybe.”

He paints what he sees, Nicknig said, adding that his grandfather’s portrait had ultimately come to be in the style of a vignette. Nicknig said that he “didn’t want to just paint a photograph” and that “people should continue doing things. Get a hobby, go fishing, get a boat, work on a car.”

Nicknig brought a booklet with him, which had watercolor paintings and sketches of works he would potentially paint on a canvas. 

After retiring from 29 years at the Sacramento Bee, Nicknig said that he began to participate in food portrait sessions in North Highlands around the end of 2017 and was asked to host the Rio Linda recreational painting program shortly after. He has hosted the program ever since, occasionally posting on Nextdoor about it. 

Sometimes while attending protests, Nicknig said he sketches the day's events, capturing actions from the event in his booklet and using them as inspiration for the canvases he paints. He said that realism “is a fairly simple place to start as an artist, making things more fun as the creations develop.” 

Nicknig is a member of the Sacramento Fine Arts Center in Carmichael and he recently had one of works of art accepted to be put on display. He encourages residents to attend studio arts sessions and try their best to not get bored. 

“People come and go,” Nicknig said. “It’s free and it’s a great facility.”