Born in Kenya in 1970, Nicola Firth’s family moved to South Africa in 1979.  “I was fortunate to be raised on a farm, where the carefree lifestyle and freedom to explore moulded my creative spirit.” Nicola was educated in KwaZulu-Natal, and at the age of 15 realised Art was a subject she not only loved but also displayed talent in and from there she never looked back. 

After completing a BA Fine Art degree at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, majoring in ceramics, Nicola decided to travel the world. The past few years have been filled with working both overseas and locally, travelling to exotic destinations and becoming a wife and mother of two. She worked in the fast-paced field of Marketing and Advertising, before she found the time to pursue her life-long dream of painting full-time in 2007.

For the last ten years Nicola has continued to push her creativity, particularly in attending weekly classes with Pascale Chandler in Durban, where her preferred medium is oil painting. She is incredibly inspired by Africa and uses her own photography from various adventures around Southern Africa as a reference. These are typically scenes from the Transkei and Mozambique as well as weekends spent in the breath-taking KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.