Nicole Slater Biography

Australian artist Nicole Slater is a self-taught equestrian artist whose lifelong connection with horses has shaped a distinctive body of large-scale paintings. Beginning her artistic journey at just 17, Nicole made her own canvases and sold her early works at the Port Douglas markets in Far North Queensland. Today, she paints from her studio on the family’s Gold Coast horse stud, drawing directly from the horses she lives with and knows intimately.

Working primarily with acrylic and synthetic polymer paint on hand-primed Belgian linen, Nicole creates expansive equine portraits that explore the power, movement, spirit and emotion of the horse. Her painstaking technique combines thousands of individually rendered strokes with carefully mixed colours, bringing remarkable depth, texture and presence to each subject. From champion racehorses to beloved companions and rescued horses, her works reflect a deep and personal understanding of the animals she paints.

With paintings reaching several metres in scale, Nicole’s work commands both attention and space, capturing the quiet strength and vitality of the horse through expressive detail and monumental form. Her work has been exhibited at HOTA Gallery and featured across major Australian media, while her paintings are held in private collections in Australia and internationally.