Cinque Terre Oil Painting by Contemporary Impressionist Niki Gulley

March 25, 2025

 

“Italian Riviera” ©2025 Niki Gulley
40″ x 30″ oil painting on canvas 
 

 

Day 2, Riomaggiore: CINQUE TERRE

Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

 

On the second day of our plein-air painting and photography workshop in Cinque Terre, Italy, the sun was shining and we rode the train to the southern-most city of Riomaggiore. Setting up our easels right near the water, we enjoyed the cathartic sounds of the waves crashing against the rocky shore as we painted. I chose this view looking back at the intricate puzzle of stacked houses lining the hills while some of my students chose to paint the rocky cliffs and ocean surf. What an amazing, gorgeous, inspiring day!

 
 
 
 
E-mail me at [email protected] for more information.
 
 
To see more of my contemporary landscape paintings and plein air oil paintings, please visit my website at NikiGulley.com.
 
***
Next year, we’ll be returning to Cinque Terre with an exciting new Art Trek! If you’re interested in joining us there or one one of our other workshops, please let us know. Spaces fill up quickly!
 

Globe-Trotting Immersive Excursions for Artists, Foodies and Travelers

Led by Scott Willams and Niki Gulley

Greece Art Trek
Full

Switzerland Art Trek 
Full

Tuscany Foodie Trek 2025 
September 20-27, 2025
Only 2 spots left!
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2025/
 

2026

Tuscany Foodie Trek 2026 

September 26 – October 3, 2026
Only 6 spots left!
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2026/

Cinque Terre & Lake Como, Italy
October 4-11, 2026
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2026/

Coming Soon:
Portugal & Spain Foodie Treks – March
Croatia & Slovenia Art Treks – May/June

If you  have any questions or would like to register, please contact Scott at [email protected] or 214-289-8512.

Visit ArtTreks.org for more details on all of our trips.

 
Check out our review page on TripAdvisor and feel free to leave one of your own.

Cinque Terre, Italy Plein Air Painting / Photo Workshop with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams

March 24, 2025

 

“Peaceful Courtyard” ©2019 Niki Gulley
SOLD • 12″ x 9″ oil painting
 
Cinque Terre Art Trek with Niki Gulley and Scott Williams
Day 1: Monterosso / the 5 Village Hike
 
We were greeted in Cinque Terre with gorgeous sunny weather, so the photographers and tourists headed out on our first morning on the 5 mile scenic hike high above, linking the five cities of the Cinque Terre, taking in breathtaking scenery along the way. With our paint gear, we opted to stay in Monterosso and capture this beautiful quiet courtyard, with its soft dappled light and lovely plantings.
 
 
That evening we connected with the hikers and enjoyed a delicious dinner of fresh caught seafood, local pesto and pasta, and tasty Italian wine. A great end to a perfect first day!
 
***
 
Good news – we’ll be returning to Cinque Terre next fall (2026) with an exciting new Art Trek! If you’re interested in joining us there or one one of our other workshops, please let us know. Spaces fill up quickly!
 

Globe-Trotting Immersive Excursions for Artists, Foodies and Travelers

Led by Scott Willams and Niki Gulley

Greece Art Trek
Full

Switzerland Art Trek 
Full

Tuscany Foodie Trek 2025 
September 20-27, 2025
Only 2 spots left!
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2025/
 

2026

Tuscany Foodie Trek 2026 

September 26 – October 3, 2026
Only 6 spots left!
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2026/

Cinque Terre & Lake Como, Italy
October 4-11, 2026
https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2026/

Coming Soon:
Portugal & Spain Foodie Treks – March
Croatia & Slovenia Art Treks – May/June

If you  have any questions or would like to register, please contact Scott at [email protected] or 214-289-8512.

Visit ArtTreks.org for more details on all of our trips.

 
Check out our review page on TripAdvisor and feel free to leave one of your own.
***
 
E-mail Niki Gulley with any questions.
To see more of my palette knife contemporary landscape paintings, visit nikigulley.com.
 

 

“Fall’s Arrival” in Maine – Palette Knife Painting by Niki Gulley

March 21, 2025

 

“Fall’s Arrival” ©2025 Niki Gulley
9″ x 12″ textured acrylic painting on canvas panel

Oh Maine! Such rugged beauty! In this piece I painted just outside of Bar Harbor, you can see the beginnings of fall hues. Birch trees are starting to vibrate with color, foreground grasses and wildflowers are bursting with joy and views over the vast ocean show glimpses of Bar Island nestled in Frenchman Bay.

 https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/

 

•••

 

For more information on my textured palette knife paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.
 

Or, please visit my website at  NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings. 

 

Contemporary Impressionistic Ocean Painting by Niki Gulley

March 20, 2025

    

SOLD • 5″ x 7″ textured acrylic painting on panel
 

I love everything about going to the beach. I love gazing into the endless horizon while listening to the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing against the shore. I love feeling the warmth of the sun against my skin while the cool sand squishes between my toes. And, I love how all of my cares disappear and I feel completely at peace engulfed in the moment.

So, getting to paint along the shoreline is almost as close as it gets to perfection! I hope you, too, can feel the joy and serenity of gazing at the ocean in this piece.

 
 https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/
 
•••
For more information on my textured palette knife paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.

 

Or, please visit my website at  NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

 

“Morning in Paradise” Palette Knife Seashore painting by Niki Gulley

March 19, 2025

  

“Morning in Paradise” ©2025 Niki Gulley
9″ x 12″ textured oil painting

I wanted this painting to be about the power of the ocean to lift your spirits. Painting this piece on location, I strove to capture the sparkle the sun cast across the turquoise waters as it slowly rose above the horizon. Creating bobbing diamonds of sparkling light across the surface was truly mesmerizing to watch.

 
Visit my website at NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape palette knife paintings.
 
Or e-mail me for more information at [email protected].

https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/
 

Serenity Now! Escape with Artist Niki Gulley to the Outer Banks

March 18, 2025

  

 
“Serenity Now” ©2025 Niki Gulley
12″ x 24″ textured acrylic painting on canvas
 

After nine days of grey, cold and sometimes rainy weather, I really needed to warm up and soak up some Vitamin D sunshine. So, we took a detour from fall foliage and headed to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. We found an amazing campsite right on the water, and this was our view out our window for the next 2 days! While a little windy our first night, the next morning I woke to beautiful, calm blue waters and I just had to paint that serene view. Those 2 hammocks were calling my name to just relax. I hope you can escape with me into this peaceful, cathartic seascape.

 
 https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/
 
•••
For more information on my textured palette knife paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.

 

Or, please visit my website at  NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

 

Palette Knife Abstract Seascape Painting by Artist Niki Gulley

March 17, 2025

    

 

“Ocean Breeze” ©2025 Niki Gulley
24″ x 24″ textured acrylic painting on canvas

 

We’re taking a break from fall foliage to soak up some warmth and sunshine along North Carolina’s Outer Banks coast. Listen to those rhythmic ocean waves! Talk about relaxing and just what the doctor ordered. Letting the sounds guide me and going with the flow of the moment, I left this one loose with abstract passages. I hope you can feel the joy and energy in this painting, and escape with me.
 
To see a video of this painting and location, visit https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyn0LbiOUhw/.
 
 
 https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/

 

•••

 

For more information on my textured palette knife paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.
 
Or, please visit my website at  NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.

 

Painting Portugal’s Gorgeous Coastline with Impressionist Niki Gulley

March 14, 2025

  

 

SOLD • ©2024 Niki Gulley
9″ x 12″ textured acrylic painting on panel
 
Portugal Art Trek: 
Plein Air Painting and Photography Workshop led by Niki Gulley and Scott Williams
 
Day 7 – Cascais
 
Last painting from Portugal, and a fantastic way to end the trip! Listening to the ocean waves while painting along the shoreline is just what the doctor ordered. I hope you can escape with us in this piece!
 

 

To see a video of us painting, visit https://www.instagram.com/p/C4x5W9pouTn/.
 
 
***
 
 
If you’re interested in joining us in Tuscany or on one of our upcoming Art Treks or Foodie Treks, please let us know. Spaces fill up quickly!
 

Croatia / Slovenia Art Trek 

May 2026 

 

Tuscany Foodie Trek 

September 26 -October 3 / 2026 

https://www.arttreks.org/tuscany-foodie-2026/ 

 

Cinque Terre Art Trek 

October 4 -11 / 2026 

https://www.arttreks.org/cinque-terre-2026/

If you  have any questions or would like to register, please contact Scott at [email protected] or 214-289-8512.

Visit ArtTreks.org for more details on all of our trips.

 

 
 

https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/

 

Fall Foliage in the Smoky Mountains by Palette Knife Painter Niki Gulley

March 13, 2025

     

“Fall’s Spectrum” ©2025 Niki Gulley
24″ x 30″ textured acrylic painting on canvas
 
Here is Asheville, NC in all of its peak autumn glory the last week of October. Of course, one of the challenges of plein-air painting is you never know what is going to change in the scene you are capturing. For instance, our neighbors at our campsite chose to park their black sedan right here in the middle of our picturesque view. Oh, well! The scenery beyond was still beautiful and I was able to take some photos on my camera to finish this one up at home. It also gave us a good excuse to take a scooter ride on that beautiful 70 degree day and check out the picturesque nature trails in the North Carolina Arboretum. Not a bad way to finish up our immersive autumn trip!
 
 https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/
 
•••

 

For more information on my textured palette knife paintings, please e-mail me at Niki Gulley.

 

Or, please visit my website at  NikiGulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape paintings.
 

 

“Symphonic Expressions” Large Abstract Texas Painting by Niki Gulley

March 12, 2025
“Sunset Symphony” ©2024 Niki Gulley
SOLD • 48″ x 60″ textured acrylic painting on wrap around canvas

Moving cross-country with two art studios worth of supplies is… interesting! ? Found paint tubes in places I didn’t even know existed.

So glad we could deliver this 48″ x 60″ to my collector’s home in Dallas before we left. One less big painting to move!

 
***
For more details on my other Texas paintings, please e-mail Niki Gulley.

Or, check out my website at nikigulley.com to see more of my contemporary landscape palette knife paintings.
 
 

https://www.instagram.com/nikigulley/