Meet the Maker: Nicola Kidd

“I’m kind of obsessed with squares – not sure if you noticed that,” laughs Nicola Kidd as she shows me a worktable strewn with dozens of colourful prints on thin squares of wood. The Mulmur artist typically uses unfinished birch or fir to make her eye-catching fridge magnets, coasters, wooden postcards and wood canvas prints. Her images of choice? These days, quintessential scenes of local country life inspired by her love of the outdoors and nearby landscapes.

But as earthy as the final products appear, today’s technology – in the form of an industrial inkjet printer – plays the key role in transferring Nicola’s images onto sheets of wood as though they were paper. She sells her finished wares under her Resurfaced label.

The former urbanite, who originally hails from Calgary, spent a decade in Toronto studying, teaching and working in digital print. She now works out of a studio in the home she shares with her filmmaker partner, Sean Sealey, and their two small dogs, Waffles and Maybe.

Nicola begins the process with photography, capturing specific images she wants to miniaturize. She then digitally removes the backgrounds, often keeping the shadows where they fall to add depth. Next comes the preparation of the wood. Because the surface must be perfectly flat for the printer to make proper contact, she uses a table saw to cut new wood to size. Many small pieces, such as magnets and coasters, can be printed simultaneously, while the largest size, about 14 by 12 inches, is printed one at a time. “I love working with wood. Each piece comes out a bit differently based on the colour and grain, so it’s interesting to see the final result.”

The wooden pieces are then placed in the printer and the images are printed directly onto the wood. Because the natural beauty of the wood shines through, the effect is subtle, but striking. Next the ink is cured, or hardened, onto the wood by the printer’s UV light, and Nicola ends the process by protecting the finished pieces with a light coat of varnish.

Though customers have the option of mixing and matching their own set, some of the pieces are organized into themes. The Mono coaster set includes rural icons such as a barn, a horse crossing sign and a sign for Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, while the Ontario Hiking set features Bruce Trail blazes and a wild grouse. Tractors, canoes, geese and a family of raccoons all make appearances in her collection, as do signs for local roads such as Highway 10 and Highway 89. 

Nicola is also fond of capturing town entrance signs, which she feels exude small town pride. “I do like seeing people’s eyes light up when they see the squares. They’ll tell me they grew up in Grand Valley or they live in Mulmur … I think it’s fun for them to see their local life captured in art,” she says.

Other sets focus on well-known Toronto spots, including subway stations, streetcars and classic buildings such as Massey Hall. She sells these at Uppdoo, a boutique in downtown Toronto. 

“These images evoke a lot of reactions too,” Nicola says as she describes her early days selling Resurfaced products at Toronto markets. “People would pick up a square with Honest Ed’s on it and I’d think, Here comes a great story! They’d tell me about arriving in Canada as a newcomer and buying their first frying pan there. The squares are small, but they seem to really capture and evoke the memories of a place.”

Since moving to the country, Nicola’s subjects have evolved with her. Huge fans of mountain biking, she and Sean are now able to spend more time on the trails at Mansfield Outdoor Centre and enjoy the serenity of being surrounded by nature. “Coming here really feels more like home than Toronto ever did,” she reflects. “I loved the stories people had about old buildings in Toronto. But for me it’s always about nature. I’d rather be outside than in a building.” 

Find Nicola’s work at resurfaced.ca. She is also one of the many vendors whose work will be available from November 27 to December 8 at the Museum of Dufferin’s annual Holiday Treasures Craft Market. Her work is also for sale year-round in the museum’s gift shop.