For as long as she can remember, the sea has been both Jennifer Nicholson’s playground and her greatest teacher. She grew up with salt water on her skin, a mask on her face, and a sense that beneath the waves lay a world as mysterious as it was generous. Today, that world continues to guide her — not only as a sailor and freediver, but also as an artist devoted to translating the ocean’s stories onto canvas.

Your art focuses on cetaceans, why have you chosen whales as a subject?
Jennifer’s whale paintings are not just images; they are encounters. Each piece is born from a real moment she has shared with these majestic animals. Whether gliding alongside humpbacks in the Philippines, swimming beneath the outstretched wings of manta rays, or sailing across the deep Atlantic waters where whale songs vibrate through the hull, these experiences etch themselves into her memory in ways words cannot contain. Painting becomes her bridge between memory and meaning, capturing the essence of what it feels like to be eye to eye with a whale, sharing breath, silence, and awe.

The Whales Behind the Brushstrokes

How do you initiate your creative work process?
To Jennifer, whales embody paradox: immense yet graceful, ancient yet vulnerable, powerful yet fragile in the face of modern threats. Her creative process is an attempt to honor these contradictions. She works primarily in watercolor and acrylic, often beginning with loose, fluid washes that echo the movement of water itself. These early strokes suggest the flow of a whale’s body through the sea, before she builds layers of texture, highlights, scars, and shadows until the creature emerges, alive with presence.

We’ve seen some impressively large works of yours, is that inherent to depicting the largest animals on Planet Earth?
Scale plays a role in Jennifer’s work. Some pieces are intimate postcard-sized studies, while others stretch across canvases more than three meters wide. The larger the format, the more immersive the experience: standing before these pieces, the viewer cannot help but feel dwarfed, invited into a moment that mirrors the humility of encountering such giants in the wild.

A deeper connection

Jennifer’s connection to whales is not only aesthetic but profoundly personal. To dive with them is to enter a space where time slows: the sound of a heartbeat, the rhythm of breath, and then suddenly…the distant song of a humpback threading through the water. In these moments, she is reminded that humanity is not separate from nature but a part of it, woven into the same web of existence.

This sense of interconnectedness drives her work. She is not content to simply paint beautiful animals; she wants her art to serve as a catalyst for awareness and action. Her paintings are both homage and plea: to marvel at whales is to recognize our responsibility to protect them.

Art with purpose

You do a lot of good work with your art, tell us more about that.
Over the years, Jennifer has collaborated with conservation organizations such as The Perfect World Foundation and the JoyRon Foundation, donating works for auctions that fund projects safeguarding marine life. In 2025, one of her whale paintings became a permanent fixture at Le Club 55 in St. Tropez as part of a conservation initiative — an unforgettable moment that aligned her art with a global audience and a global cause.

Part of the proceeds from my pop up will go to non-profits on the island using the power of law to protect children and ecosystems. To me, this is more than philanthropy; it is reciprocity. The ocean gives me endless inspiration, and giving back is my way of keeping the current flowing.

The Studio as a sanctuary

Where do you work from?
Jennifer’s studio in Santa Catalina, Mallorca, overlooks the Mediterranean, a daily reminder of the waters that inspire her. In 2025, she hosted a “studio warming” with three local artists on the same night as Palma’s Nit d’Art, opening her doors not as a gallery but as a space of shared curiosity. Visitors walked among canvases, prints, and postcards — some collectors, others simply ocean lovers drawn by the chance to connect art and conservation. The atmosphere was informal but heartfelt: proof that art can build community as much as it builds awareness.

How do you stay inspired?
As her practice evolves, Jennifer continues to explore new ways to expand the reach of her work. Large canvases attract high-end collectors, while smaller works and limited-edition prints connect with a wider audience. She has even experimented with 3D-printed accessories inspired by her art, blurring the line between functionality and creativity.

Yet the heart of her work remains unchanged: each painting is an invitation to see whales not as distant subjects, but as neighbors whose fate is intertwined with ours.

What do you hope to evoke with people who witness your art?
When people stand before Jennifer Nicholson’s whale paintings, she hopes they feel more than admiration — she hopes they feel recognition. That spark of knowing we are part of the same ocean story. If even one painting inspires someone to tread more gently, to learn more deeply, or to protect more fiercely, then her work has fulfilled its purpose.

The whales do not ask for admiration. They ask for space, silence, and survival. Jennifer’s art is her way of answering.

website: www.jennifernicholsonart.com

Instagram handle: #jennifernicholsonart