For artist Nicky Soulier, oil painting is a kind of refuge, a healing space where hours pass as her brushes move deliberately across canvas and the noise of the outside world fades into a manageable and beautiful process.
Her path to painting, however, was anything but linear.
For years, Soulier has navigated life-threatening depression, anxiety, ADHD, and complex PTSD. She’s explored nearly every avenue available in search of relief. While some approaches offered temporary support, nothing resonated as deeply as painting.
“Painting has been the best therapy I’ve found,” she explains. It demands her full attention. “My ADHD has been like a super power and helps me focus on my passion. When I paint I’m in such a state of mindfulness that I can’t think about my problems or worries,” she says. “It gives my overactive, sensitive brain a break to focus intently on my work.”
Though she didn’t initially set out to become a professional artist, an art show rejection in 2024 was a turning point. “I didn’t want that to happen again,” she recalls.
Soulier enrolled in respected art programs, studied under established artists, and even traveled to France for a retreat. She painted daily, often for 12 to 14 hours at a time, channeling her natural intensity into mastery.
The following year that same show accepted her work.
Since then, she’s completed more than 100 paintings and participated in ten exhibitions. Her work was selected for the Springville Museum of Art’s Religious and Spiritual Art Show and she received the first-ever Emerging Artist Award from the Inspirational Art Association. In 2025, she also earned second place in the South Jordan Art Show.
“I’ve learned so much," she says. "Who would’ve thought one rejection could lead to all of this?”
Her work spans a wide range of subjects—landscapes, animals, abstract forms, and increasingly, the human figure. “I’m still experimenting to find my own unique artist voice,” she continues. Soulier began with landscapes, but portraiture—both in oil and graphite pencil—presented a different challenge.
In recent work, she's gravitated toward painting women as divine goddesses. “So much of our society is male-centered,” she explains. “I wanted to create more female representation—something for my daughters to be represented by and to aspire to.”
Her personal connection to oil painting goes back to her grandmother, a professional artist in New Mexico, who worked in the same medium. “I remember going to her studio and gallery growing up and I was inspired,” she recalls.
Before painting, Soulier’s life revolved around movement. She danced for the University of Utah and later performed as an NBA dancer for the Cleveland Cavaliers. She coached, taught, and built a life around performance and discipline. But as her personal challenges intensified, she found herself needing a different kind of outlet.
Painting filled that space.
Today, Soulier balances life as a full-time artist and a stay-at-home mother of four. Her days stretch between family responsibilities shared with her husband, Danny, and long hours in the studio.
What she has found is a sense of alignment. Painting isn’t a cure or a sudden transformation but a steady practice and a way to move forward.
“I hope people can see that there’s always something that can help,” she says. “Something that can bring light back in.”
For her, that something came in the form of oil paint and canvas without knowing where it would lead. And with every finished piece, she hopes that same sense of beautiful possibility offers others a glimpse of light.
Visit nickysoulier.com to view her artwork and upcoming shows.