NILES NORDQUIST, OPA


A native of California, Niles Nordquist is equally at home painting the beauty of the Pacific coast, the majesty of the mountains of the West, or the solitude of the California deserts and backcountry. His early childhood lived on the Oregon coast, and summers spent at his parents’ home place in Montana, shaped his love for splendid natural landscapes.

As a young boy, he spent much time exploring, hiking, and camping in back country. He often wandered away from the group, pursuing an eye-catching glimpse, blazing a new trail. Thus, Nordquist, who was a Landscape Architect, has developed over his lifetime an eye trained to capture the nuances of nature and the landscape. His paintings reflect the timelessness of God’s creation in special places.

He searches for the uncommon view of a place, one that is not only new to him, but also that displays the powerful effects of light, that captures the sense of place and time, the essence of the present moment.

Occasionally, this search leads him to paint many miles off road in perfect solitude, and, in 2007 led him to the summit of Mt. Whitney, and in 2010 to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro with his wife, Judy.

Nordquist paints en plein aire and in his Star, Idaho studio, expanding smaller studies into larger works. He accepts private commissions. He has studied with Scott Christensen, John Budicin, Joseph Bohler, Charles Reid and Robert Reynolds.

Nordquist has exhibited in various shows with California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, as well as in many national juried shows and plein air festivals. He is the brother of a gifted wildlife sculptor,
Mark Nordquist. Niles is honored to have received awards for his work. His desire is to continue painting great places – “and what great places we have”.

Selected Awards


Best of Plein Air - 3rd Award, 2010 LPAPA, CA

Best of Show, 2008 San Luis Obispo Plein Air, CA
Best of Show 2007, San Luis Obispo Plein Air, CA
Artist Choice - 2nd Award, 2009 Telluride Plein Air, CO
Jury’s Top 50, Salon International 2007, San Antonio, TX
Juror’s 2nd Place award, Idyllwild Plein Air, 2010
Collector’s 2nd Place award, Idyllwild Plein Air, 2010
Artists’ Choice, 2005 San Luis Obispo Plein Air
Merit Award in Landscape, Salon International 2005, San Antonio, TX
Award of Merit, 2004 La Quinta Arts Festival, La Quinta, CA
Honorable Mention, Hilton Head Art League 2004 National Juried Exhibition, SC
Award of Merit, 2004 Rocky Mountain Plein Air Invitational, Estes Park, CO
Collectors’ Choice, Rocky 2004 Mountain Plein Air Invitational, Estes Park, CO
Award of Excellence, 2004 La Quinta Desert Plein Air Invitational
Best of Show, 2003 5
th Annual Desert Plein Air Festival, La Quinta, CA
Honorable Mention , Hilton Head Art League’s 2003 National Juried Exhibition, SC
Award of Merit, Art Splash on the Square 2003, Graham, TX
Juror’s Top Fifty, Salon International 2003, Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art, San Antonio
Juror’s Top 18, “Painting the Parks”, Estes Park, CO, Plein Air 2003
Winner, Collectors’ Choice, “Painting the Parks”, Estes Park, CO, Plein Air 2003


Selected Juried Exhibitions

Gold Medal Exhibition, California Art Club, Pasadena, CA 2019, 2003
OPA Virtuosos, St Petersburg, Fl 2019
OPA Virtuosos, Salmagundi Club, NY 2015
Telluride Plein Air, CO, 2004 -2013
Sonoma Plein Air, CA 2004 - 2019
Plein Air Glacier, Kalispell, MT 2015
LA Quinta Art Festival 2005 - 2006, 2013-2014
LPAPA Laguna Plein Air, CA, 2010
Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition, 2010, 2016
Salon International, San Antonio, TX, 2003 – 2005, 2007, 2014
Idyllwild Plein Air Festival 2010

Napa Valley Art Festival, CA, 2008 - 2009
Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, 2003 - 2006
Peppertree Art Show, Santa Ynez, CA, 2006 - 2009
Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational, San Diego, 2008
San Luis Obispo Plein Air Painting Festival, CA, 2002 – 2008
Sedona Plein Air Festival, AZ, 2008 – 2009
LPAPA Annual Best of Plein Air, CA, 2006, 2010
Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters National Show, 2003 – 2017
Carmel Art Festival, 2005
Arts for the Parks Mini 100, Jackson Hole, WY 2004