Nicole Belton: Ephemeral Landscapes from Moscow to Montecito

Nicole Belton’s art studio, located at 1019 West in Inglewood, feels like walking into a museum of trees frozen in time. Dream-like hills and extending branches captured in a submerged composition (Skyview Drive); a tree in a moment of transition, poised before fading into a muted, decaying terrain (Ash).

For the past six years, Belton has paved a distinct path into multiple creative industries. Belton’s resume includes working as an art instructor for Laguna Blanca High School, a graphic designer for Twentieth Gallery, and as a graphic designer for CAA. In addition, Belton has experience working with clients in New York and Moscow. 

Belton’s design positions serve to bolster her career as a fine artist. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2021, Belton has taken the initiative to create artistic communities through hosting open studio nights, attending lectures and classes at local universities, and curating multiple exhibitions.

Regarding her curatorial practices, she explains, “I curate to connect research-based themes, build multicultural communities, and contribute to a dialogue of visual expression.” Her most recent exhibitions were inspired by the books War of Art by Steven Pressfield, What is Art? by Leo Tolstoy, and The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley.

Belton was a sophomore studying economics at the University of San Francisco, while also taking numerous art electives. Inspired by her art professor Jenifer Wofford, who recognized her strong conceptual ideation skills and encouraged her to pursue art full time, Belton made the bold decision to change her major to design and fine arts – despite her parents’ objections. 

“While I was in college, my parents lived in Russia… nobody was going to find out,” she recalls. Her parents eventually discovered the change just weeks before her graduation but have since come to support her artistic ambitions. Her brash decision speaks to Belton’s rebellious, effortlessly confident, and cool-tempered attitude. 

Looking at Belton’s childhood, there is no question of her having been drawn to painting. At only five years old she began taking painting classes alongside her sister, Nadia, intrigued by recreating landscapes in winter and spring seasons.

Her artistic practice is a culmination of her early fascination with contrasting environments. “In my final year of university, I painted abstract landscapes to offset my time spent working digitally. Soon, my work began to lean back into more specific references to landscape and objects in landscape.”

Belton’s subjects are informed by traditional Russian Gzhel painting styles which typically illustrate sprawling flowers, trees, and branches in blue-on-white porcelain. Georgia O’Keeffe’s vibrant, rolling landscapes in brilliant hues have also been a pivotal source
of inspiration.

Nature was Belton’s first muse. Growing up in Pokrovsky Hills – a small, forested community in Moscow, Russia – and later moving to Ennisbrook in Montecito, she began questioning her relationship with the natural world, a theme that would later influence her art. 

Belton’s mother is from St. Petersburg, Russia, while her father is from Fairbanks, Alaska. During summer visits to Alaska, she experienced “the strange phenomenon of encountering identical foliage and plants in two places that were politically and culturally opposed.”

This inquiry led Belton to “question what a landscape has experienced throughout its history,” painting landscapes from her past and naming them after the roads and addresses that defined her childhood. Each piece is in a unique state of being, whether that be submerged in water, frozen under ice, or jostled by wind in spring’s light (East Valley). 

The results are ephemeral landscapes where Belton captures “the impermanence of the human experience in the natural world,” evoking a collective nostalgia similar to catching a glimpse of a memory before it fades. She asks the question, “How can we utilize our common experience to promote unity?” 

Belton describes her work as “unified abstractions,” creating pieces that invite viewers to connect with recognizable natural elements while discovering their own personal interpretations. “I like to play with the art of perception,” she explains. “I believe the way people interpret my work depends on the environment with which they’re
most familiar.”

What I found to be the most striking piece in Belton’s studio was Ash. I shared how I was transported to the frozen, gray winters of my college years in Boston. For Belton, the piece captured a hike into the mountains of Montecito after a devastating wildfire. 

Immediately the 2018 Montecito mudslides entered my heart. The range of emotion Ash was able to evoke is a testament to Belton’s technical expertise and deeply empathetic practice. 

The horizon is bright for Belton’s career. In Los Angeles, from November 8th to 10th, Belton will participate in the 15th Annual Art Walk arranged by Inglewood Open Studios, hosting her own wine-tasting event and studio tour “Palette Cleanser” on the 9th. 

In Santa Barbara, Belton will join the group show “L’image” on December 14th held in the Funk Zone, hosted by local Kayla Bollag. 

To stay updated on Nicole Belton’s work, visit her website nicolebelton.com or her Instagram @nicolebeltonstudio. For commission inquiries, please email her at nbelton99@gmail.com or directly message her through Instagram.