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Nicole grew up as a child of the 80’s, in a mid-western suburb of Chicago. Her parents had both been artistic in their youth, and always encouraged her artistic expression.

Headshot of Nicole BrownEarly on she began sculpture classes, painting, and drawing. In high school she added the art of jewelry making, photography, and three-dimensional art to her list of artistic crafts. After two years of community college, in 2001 Nicole went to the Chicago School of Massage Therapy, and became a certified massage therapist. It was at this time that she began to practice yoga, and everything transformed in her life. She began to draw more again, and after having studied intense anatomy, drawing the human form was surprisingly easier and more accessible. Still, her focus was not solely on art, as she was dedicated to her yoga practice and traveled to San Diego for several years to study yoga with Tim Miller. In 2006 she moved back to Chicago, and in 2012 she received her B.S. in Philosophy from Roosevelt University. In 2013 she became certified as a 500 hr. advanced yoga teacher and started teaching yoga professionally. Since her journey began, she has had the pleasure of studying with many master teachers including Richard Freeman, Tim Miller, Tias Little, Gary Kraftsow, Seanne Corn, Sianna Sherman, and Gabriel Halpern. Her teaching has a focus on alignment, anatomy and therapeutic movements, which aim to provide a balance in the asymmetries we all are challenged with in our own bodies. Meditation, asana, pranayama, mudras and philosophy from yogic texts are interwoven in all her classes, as she believes they are the key elements that awaken the transformational aspects of yoga.

Nicole has been focusing her artistic endeavors on drawing mandalas for several years now. Looking back, she sees many patterns in her old artwork that have surfaced in her current mandala drawings. For Nicole, the simplistic yet rich idea of the center of the mandala representing the very center of the self, and also the very center of the universe, is very captivating. The mere creation of the mandala is a meditation, which coincides perfectly with Nicole’s yoga practice. Recently, she began using a compass so that they can conform to a more perfect, ‘sacred geometry’. Her intricate mandalas are characterized by their detail and mesmerizing patterns. She says that the patterns are born out of working spontaneously on the mandalas, and trying to let them flow through her, as all true creations must come forth in this way.

Her most recent adventure is a relocation with her husband and terrier to the beautiful, scenic, and art inspired Santa Fe, New Mexico. Nicole is enthralled to be surrounded by the magical beauty of the mountains, rivers and hiking trails that drew her to Santa Fe. She looks forward to your enjoyment of her art, and if you are a local here in Santa Fe, to seeing you in one of her yoga classes!