Niki Gilmore-Ward - Finger Painter Niki Gilmore-Ward is a local artist who really gets into her work. She’s a painter, but instead of using brushes, she uses her fingers! Although many of us finger painted as a child, Niki has taken it to a whole new, professional, level. She’s made finger painting her career, along with being the mother of two excellent kids, and she’s having a blast. Niki has been drawing and painting since she was young. “Drawing was where it started. My sixth grade teacher was my inspiration,” she said. Niki has anNiki has an Associates degree in Elementary Education from Casper College in Wyoming and she even studied at the University of Alaska in Anchorage,before coming to East Carolina University three years ago. Although she had already established herself as an accomplished Airbrush artist, she was struggling to find her “niche” in her painting. Last February a friend suggested she try something new and completely different from the art she had done in the past. Niki said she didn’t like to get messy, but when she tried finger painting, “all the fun came back into painting.” She said, “It was so much easier and more fun to have a ‘brush’ with five colors, not just one.” five colors, not just one.” The result is beautifully detailed work with amazing colors and fantastic energy. Niki’s home in the country is the inspiration for her latest paintings, including “North Carolina Cotton”, “Walleye” and “Birds of Prey”. Her creative thinking outside the box is what makes her such an amazing artist. Niki will graduated from ECU with a BFA in Painting and Drawing and she said her ultimate goal is to become an Art instructor on the university level. Niki has experience teaching children K-12, as well as adults, through her volunteer work with Snow Hill Primary, Pitt Memorial Children’s Hospital, the Williams Syndrome Association, and Aseracare Hospice. If you would like to see more of NikiIf you would like to see more of Niki’s finger paintings, visit the Riverwalk Gallery in Washington or check them out online at www.riverwalkgallery.biz. Or you can contact Niki directly at nikipaint@yahoo.com. Her business card says, “You name it, I’ll paint it!” and it’s true. Between her finger paintings and her airbrush talent, she’s painted everything from Harley-Davidson gas tanks to her kids’ school projects.