Artist Interviews 2025

Nom Kinnear King  
By Julia Siedenburg



There’s a vibrant poetry in the world of Nom Kinnear King — where autumn leaves swirl through misty courtyards and women move as though they’ve stepped from the pages of a forgotten fairytale. The changing seasons play a vital role in her work, each one breathing new life into her scenes and revealing the quiet beauty hidden in passing time. She is a painter whose work shimmers with dreamlike beauty and feminine grace. Nom’s art celebrates the mystery, strength, and grace of her subjects — enchanting women caught between imagination and reality. Each painting feels like a fleeting moment between worlds. Her work invites us to wander, dream, and lose ourselves in its spell. There was no doubt that her work had to be on our cover page as there could not have been a more perfect fit. Her creations are true masterpieces, and I’m so thankful Nom took the time to share a little bit about herself and her drawings. I’m delighted to finally introduce her to you — please enjoy, dear reader.



  What do you love most about creating and experiencing art? 

  When an idea I have wanted to create that I can see so clearly in my mind comes out just the way I had hoped, that gives me a great feeling of happiness and contentment. 



How do you feel when you work on your pieces? Is it a meditative or emotional experience for you, or do you see it more as a creative outlet? 

I do feel peaceful when I'm painting. It makes the stresses of the world drift away and the hours fly by, sometimes too fast and in which the days were longer.  It's definitely a creative outlet too. I'm always wanting to be making something whether painting or with the kids crafting. 



  Which artist is your biggest inspiration? 

  That's a hard thing to choose as there have been many over the years, the pre Raphaelites have been a great influence particularly John Everett Millais, I love his painting Autumn leaves. 



  Your works remind me of those beautiful drawings in old fairy tale books. The women draped in gorgeous period-piece gowns, each one with a mysterious look in their eyes and a mission to complete.   Who are these women? What inspired you to draw them?  

I think of the women a sister’s all connected living across the countryside in crumbling old grand houses and farms, a place where their time is their own to wander and delve into their imaginations. I decided to call the place Fallowmoor a while back. I've drawn female characters since I was a child I used to fill notebooks with them writing down all the things they could do and about their magical homes.   




Besides the female subjects, the setting seems to be playing an equally important role. There are those that show the gorgeous, decorated interiors, while others are set outside, showcasing interior and exterior locations. Most are set outside where the colors of the different seasons really shine. Are the locations based on places that you know, or made up in your mind?  

The settings of the paintings are based on places I've been, painting them to my liking with changes here and there. They are made up of places we go as a family many of which are here in Norfolk, the old houses, surrounding countryside and beaches. I love to go off around the UK finding new place to stay and stopping at beautiful spots along the way for painting inspiration.   



Give us a glimpse into your process. How long does it take from the first idea to the finished project? What are the steps you have to take?  

It really depends on the idea and my head on how long a piece takes. Sometimes a complex piece can come out more quickly than another just because I'm confident in the idea and in the right headspace. Others can seem to take forever.  I usually start with a loose biro sketch, then if there is a figure in the painting I will pose for it, I have a collection of dresses I put on for these moments. Sometimes I will rope in a friend to pose for me or I'll pose as multiple figures. Then I do a full sketch then sketch it out on the wood with a pastel pencil. The paint often makes changes as I go along to the idea as it's not set in stone and will often change my mind as I go along.    



Tell us about your background and upbringing. Where did you grow up? Where are you now? When and how did you find your way to the artist life? 

 I grew up in the Norfolk countryside in an old farmhouse. So, there was lots of freedom to explore and be alone with my imagination. It was my father that introduced me to the idea of being an artist, he had a love for the French impressionists and would take us to France each year to see the places they painted and galleries. I can only remember wanting to be an artist aside from a moment of wanting to join the circus, painting and drawing was always what I was passionate about.   



One of your images is printed on the cover of a notebook. What made you want to create a notebook, and why did you choose this specific image? 

  I'd never really made my art into other things before and we were about to dip our toes (myself and my husband Adam Oehlers) into Art fairs, so I thought as I always have a notebook book on the go that would be most fitting. ‘Barley Moon’ seemed just the right piece for it as it’s a piece I truly love, and it is of a woman at her writing desk.   



If you had to choose, which one is your favorite piece you have created and why?  

That's a tricky to thing to choose as I love different pieces for different reasons, but I think I would have to go with ‘ Fellow Marsh’, it's from a few years ago and was one where I felt I was really reaching something in my work that I was wanting, it has a sense of adventure and friendship and the imagination entwining with reality, that magic realism which I love.    



What are your plans for the future? 

  Books are something I'm passionate about, so I would love to do more commissions of paintings for literature and poetry as well as creating my own book where the story is told through a series of paintings. Which is something I've started planning out, and I'm also working on a fine press edition of Jane Eyre for an independent publisher which I'm very excited about.