The hum of conversation and clink of wine glasses provided the perfect backdrop for Tides & Textures, the latest exhibition by Illawarra artist Nicky Lett, launched at Cin Cin Restaurant & Wine Bar on Thursday 6 November. With a welcome from owner and host Michael Bowden of Cin Cin’s and Michelle Springett for Expressive Art Trail, Nicky shared her journey with art patrons. 

Born in Rotorua, New Zealand, and now based locally, Lett draws on her lifelong connection with the sea to create vivid, layered works that shimmer with movement and emotion. Her paintings blend acrylic and oil, collage and texture, to build abstract seascapes and playful glimpses of life both above and beneath the waves.

Michelle Springett of Expressive Art, Michael Bowden of Cin Cin's and artist Nicky Lett

Each piece invites the viewer to look deeper - to discover the stories, families and fleeting moments that emerge as colour and form shift across the canvas. Lett describes her process as intuitive and therapeutic, particularly as she lives with Multiple Sclerosis, finding grounding and joy through paint and mark making.

The result is an exhibition that captures not only the look of the ocean but its rhythm and spirit. Tides & Textures transforms Cin Cin’s walls into a celebration of colour, connection and storytelling - a reminder of how deeply the sea shapes life along our coast.

Tides & Textures on now - part of the Expressive Art Trail

 By Nicky Lett

At Cin Cin Restaurant & Wine Bar, Kiama