Who am I
My name is Nadyne de Vel and I’m a unique and passionate artist. I create beautifully dark and allusive drawings.
Personal, emotional, inspiring, confronting, reflective, it’s all in the detail.
But who am I?
A jack of all trades actually.
I have many qualifications and skills that have influenced my life and led me here to art. Never thought I could or would draw! I am covered in tattoos and am constantly asked if I am a tattooist. My usual response was “I cannot draw, I just wear them really well”.
I fell in love with photography and studied this while at school. This was where my passion for black, white and grey began.
An opportunity for me to return to the city in which I was born arose and I jumped. Leaving NSW at the age of twenty, I took advantage of all the doors that opened. I started my first apprenticeship as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. Electrical, instrument and radio systems being my chosen field. An interesting path that found me considering my Dad is an A grade Electrician. Thirteen years I spent with planes from “bug smashers” to the big “double decker”.
A twist of events and the influence of one of Melbourne’s prominent chefs, I turned my back on the aircraft industry and headed further out of Melbourne and into my second apprenticeship. I found myself in spa country working under an incredible head chef and part of a brilliant team that gained a hat for the fine dining restaurant. My chef career took me to several different towns around the Macedon Ranges and into head chef positions.
Of course COVID struck and I found myself stuck at home, not working, for the first time since I was 14.5 years old. Extremely difficult for a workaholic, overachiever, and hyperactive mind. So on Friday 24th April 2020 I bought myself some cheap graphite and paper at the local $2 shop and began to draw. No training. No clue. No expectation. Just escape from the relentless activity and constant overthinking.
I have been drawing nearly every day since. Been through many different brands of pencils and have developed a paper obsession. With my dynamic background I have created a few interesting tools and techniques to achieve the detail and emotion I create in my art.
This is just the beginning of the adventure, with so much more yet to come all with a touch of fire red flare.