Entrada sandstone, 120 x 180 cm, acrylic on linen.2003

The basic elements of the landscape – rock and water – have always fascinated me. This interest has taken me to all types of wild places from icy mountains to rocky deserts. Places where the geology is exposed and the continual creation of the land is at its most evident.

Hidden canyon, 70 x 116cm, 2003

These paintings are related to the canyons of Utah and Arizona. During the dry season, the narrow canyons can be explored and within their walls the rock appears to flow where the water used to be. Echoing the forms of water; eddies and currents can be seen in the sculpted rock. There is a stillness that constantly suggests motion and a quietness that speaks of a different time.

Deborah Nickolls is a graduate of the Royal Academy Schools and Central St Martins. She has exhibited both abroad, at Sotheby’s in the Middle East and Chicago, and regularly in London for over six years.Over this period her painting has developed from a study of the atmosphere of mountainous areas to exploring the actual substance of the land itself – developing different techniques and processes to describe the texture and surface of the rocks that inspire her. This ongoing interest in geology combined with a love of mountaineering and rock-climbing has resulted in visits to many of the great mountain ranges, including crossing the Himalayas from Nepal to Tibet largely on foot and, in 2001, an ascent of Mont Blanc. Trips to the Andes and the canyonlands of Arizona and Utah inform her recent work.

Navajo sandstone, 120 x 180 cm, 2003