Nick, educated at the University of Tennessee where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, had the opportunity to study with Carl Sublett, NA, a master watercolorist who moved with ease among styles as divergent as Abstract Expressionism and a highly personal form of romantic realism. The seminal abstractionist Walter Hollis Stevens was an early influence on Nick’s mastery of the language of abstraction, while both men demonstrated, and helped him attain, a thorough grounding in technique. In 1977, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he pursued a career in design and illustration. Developing, over the years an “edginess” in his award-winning work.
Since then, his paintings and drawings have been featured in a number of important national and international juried exhibitions/competitions, winning over 30 awards. To cite but a few examples, in 2001, he received the Kent Day Coes Memorial Award in the American Watercolor Society’s 134th International Exhibition and was also chosen for the AWS 135th Exhibition, and The Artist’s Magazine international competition where Nick was a finalist in the still-life category in 2001 and 2003. In 2006, he was featured in The Artist’s Magazine. He also won First Place in the still-life category (after winning Fourth Place in 2005) in Watercolor Magic’s international competition. Long was also juried into the prestigious International Guild of Realism’s “Leading Masters of Realism” exhibition on Cape Cod where he won Best of Show. More recently, Nick was awarded the A.E.S. Peterson Memorial Award from the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic and also the Past President’s Award in the Tennessee Watercolor Society Biennial exhibition. In 2012 and 2013, he was a Finalist in the international competition of the Art Renewal Center, a prestigious organization whose mission is to promote the finest in realism worldwide. In 2017, Nick achieved one of his major career goals by being included for the first time as a Signature Member in the American Watercolor Society’s 150th International Juried Exhibition at the Salmagundi Club in New York. Allied Artists of America elected Nick to membership in their prestigious organization in 2018 and in 2020 awarded him the Dale Meyers Cooper Award and Medal for Watercolor in their 107th international juried competition.
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Nick has received two honors in 2021: The National Watercolor Society awarded Nick Signature Member status in the 101st International 2021 exhibition. He had the additional honor of receiving the Cheap Joe’s Purchase Award.