Nicholas Hatherly is the artist you didn’t know you needed in your life — a professional Finance and Accounting cog from Chicago who swapped spreadsheets for paint palettes and never wanted to look back. Tired of a cookie-cutter existence framed by fluorescent lighting and corporate cubicles, Hatherly dove headfirst into the messy, colorful world of art to rescue his soul from the abyss of the daily grind.
The spark for his creative journey can be traced back to his childhood in a magical classroom moment with Mrs. M., his grade school art teacher. One day, Mrs. M. unveiled a painting that she had been working on for weeks to the class. The colors and the image they portrayed on the canvas left a young Hatherly utterly spellbound. It was the first time he realized that art wasn’t just something dead people did — Art could be alive, electric, and personal.
Hatherly’s love for art ventured with him through classrooms, where he and his classmates entertained each other with optical illusions, doodles, and flip books. However, Hatherly didn’t march straight from the classroom to the art world. Instead, he took a detour through the land of business. When the monotony became unbearable, he picked up a paintbrush as an experiment, a way to find something lost. What started as a hobby soon rekindled an old obsession — and, ultimately, a newfound sense of joy and purpose.
Over the years, his style has grown into something truly his own, deeply inspired by a mix of artistic legends. He found magic in MC Escher’s illusions, and bigger dreams in Alex Grey’s visionary art. Alma Thomas’s brilliant use of color taught him how to make every piece feel alive, while Jackson Pollock’s orderly abstracts eased him into embracing the unnatural. Through it all, Hatherly has stayed true to his roots — creating art that’s clever, vibrant, and fun.