Welcome to Young Artist
Young Artist was founded by fine artist & qualified teacher, Nicki Whiteway in 2002 after 5 years of working in private and public schools across London & the North West. Whilst teaching children from all different backgrounds, with different skills sets and personalities, Nicki found that art and creativity was always a lesson that was side-lined in favour of more traditional subjects, and that the children with a real interest in these areas were not given the resources to explore.
Young Artist aims to provide this. Whether you are looking for both creative and emotional expression, or develop a real skill for a particular medium, or have children working towards a scholarship or coursework, or for the simple enjoyment of art and want to do more of it. The tutors at Young Artist will come to your house for private tuition that aims to be informative, fun, and expressive. We are huge believers in independent learning and we love to see the incredible work that the students who attend Young Artist produce. Have a look at our Instagram to see some of the incredible work.
Please call or email to speak to Nicki directly and to see if we might be right for you, your child or your parent. All ages and all abilities are welcome.
Services
Private Tuition & Bespoke Classes
Following on from a consultation with Nicki, one of the YA tutors will be assigned to you based on who we think would be the best fit. Please see our staff profiles for more information on our tutors. Private and bespoke classes are designed to suit your individual needs and aims to bring out your best creative abilities. We teach the importance of drawing whilst introducing students to a wide variety of materials such as charcoal, pastels, acrylic, oil, watercolour, paints, clay, modelling and textiles! If you have an interest in a particular medium please do let us know and we can incorporate that into our bespoke lesson structure. Whilst you’re with YA you will learn about colour, perspective, pencil shading, collage, art historical content, and stop frame animation, to name but a few. We strive to teach to the individual not to an individual formula, our artists produce original pieces personal to them & their creative journey.
ART PARTIES FOR SMALL GROUPS
Whether you’re hosting a birthday party or just want to do something fun for your children and their friends Young Artist tutors will bring all materials needed to help children create fabulous art works; either in your own home or a venue of your choice.
SCHOOLS
Young Artist can provide art clubs themed art days, art lessons, one-off session or weekly/termly art sessions for schools. Tutors will create fun skill based lunch time or after school art clubs. We can work with all curriculums for weekly or termly art lessons or devise lesson plans & schemes of work for schools requirements. Our bespoke themed art days can relate to particular exhibition or contain cross curricula topics or simply decorate your school. We also supply CPD training sessions for Primary & Prep Schools. Sessions cover essential issues such as understanding materials in relation to the curriculum & practical instruction on how to organise an art department.
COmmunity projects
Young Artist works with all ages & abilities on a wide variety of themes. We will devise art activities to compliment your project & provide tutors & materials to be used at your venue.
Teachers
NICKI whiteway
BA Hons LCAD
PGCE Manchester Met
Teaching history: wide variety of organisations from community arts in the Jamie Bulger project, inner city comprehensives to head of art at prep schools in Windsor & West London. Set up Young Artist 2002 teaching art to children & adults.
The children of: Humanitarians, politicians, surgeons, aristocracy, royalty, Hollywood stars, musicians, fashion designers, artists, top city financiers & leaders in business.
Continues own practice attending a myriad of courses from glass blowing & stop frame animation to an art history certificate at Christie's. Also working on commissions for private individuals ranging from portraits & paintings to light installations to book illustrations & art works for interior designers.
Other interests include: dogs, fringe theatre, cooking & attending cookery courses, dogs, pilates & dogs. Nicki also loves to travel & is keen to visit site specific art work across the world.
kremena dimitrova
Kremena is a London based Illustrator and Designer with a clear academic and visual research trajectory, exhibition track record and a broad knowledge of traditional and digital media. Her interest, experience and expertise lie in narrative and situated illustration methods, visual historiography, creative interventions, the use of creative processes and the application of artistic insights in diverse arts and non-arts contexts.
Kremena’s work is inspired by historical accounts, current affairs, vintage art, folk tales and superstitions, and by her travelling adventures. She experiments with drawn, painted and printed backgrounds, textures, ephemera, and photographed material, which she often combines into digital collages. Kremena is currently embarking on a practice-based PhD in Visualising History at the University of Portsmouth focusing on the graphic novel as an innovative form of historiography.
In my free time, I enjoy travelling, visiting museums and heritage sites, sketching and painting, and watching movies (not necessarily in this order).
POLLY BENNET
After graduating from City and Guilds of London Art School in 2018 with 1st Class Honours, Polly was awarded The Worshipful Painter-Stainers Decorative Surfaces Fellowship, which she has since been introducing into her practice with techniques like gilding, japanning and trompe l’oeil. Her fine art practice combines museology, science, and observation to collaborate with, and investigate her surrounding rural environment to re-visualise an experience of her own, and create one for the viewer.
Polly is a Marlborough College alumni & a first class honours Fine Art graduate of City & Guilds of London. She is currently a Decorative Surfaces Fellow awarded and funded by The Worshipful part of our Young Artist team!! Company of Painter-Stainers.
Polly enjoys a round of golf & is also a crack shot – so she has a keen eye for detail!! We are very excited to have her.
Testimonials
My son was a pupil of Nicki Whiteway’s for nearly ten years. During that time he went from being a child who liked to draw to a well-rounded artist of great ability, who is now studying art as one of his A-levels. His success is due very largely to the encouragement and support he received in his lessons with Nicki. Her skill lies in fostering self-expression while also suggesting ways of developing ideas. Her relaxed yet stimulating method of teaching meant that her lessons were like conversations between friends. She is a naturally creative and good-humoured person. I am quite sure that any child's artistic potential would flourish in the care of Young Artist. It is a group of friendly, enthusiastic and committed artists, who have a particular knack of getting on with children.
HELEN GUNN
Nicki is a talented artist and a gifted art teacher. Whatever your abilities, aims and aspirations are, she will provide you with support and guidance to coax the best out of you and discover the depths you did not know you have. Her unwaveringly cheery disposition brightens every lesson and makes my Tuesday sessions something I look forward to every week.
JULIA SUKHANOVA
Having had 3 children enjoying Nicki's amazing classes over the last six years I cannot recommend her highly enough. Not only is she an inspirational art teacher about her subject, she gives the children confidence & analytical skills about all the different aspects of art. They are kept to task with a big smile and for boys needing a bit of encouragement Nicki's kind words and warmth makes them feel like they can achieve anything! The art birthday parties were a huge hit...duvet covers & pillowcases designed by your friends - perfect!
RACHEL PARSONS
My daughter Holly attended classes at Young Artist for many years after it had been recommended warmly by some friends. She had great fun and her creative work improved to the point that she received 100% in each of her three GCSE art exams. She was not a particularly confident artist when she started and I attribute her improvement to Nicki Whiteway's inspiring teaching.
VERONICA FAULKES
We have had the fortune of working with Nicki over the last 3 years. Both Nicki and one of her tutors work with our 8 year old daughter on a weekly basis.
I am hugely grateful to Nicki not only for the amount of progress my daughter has made creatively, always bringing flexibility, calm, understanding, patience but equally structure.
Both the thought and preparation that goes into each lesson is remarkable and the ability that Nicki has to guide but never over power whilst interpreting the needs of her student intuitively is unique.
I cannot recommend Nicki highly enough.
CHARLIE TRABAUD
Nicki is endlessly encouraging whilst gently pushing me to try new things and reach outside my comfort zone and yet still managing to make the lessons fun.
KATIE STAIGHT
Our daughter started private art lessons with Nicki when she was in Year 2 because she loved art and felt like she wasn’t doing enough art in her primary school. Fast forward 8 years, and she is now in Year 10, and preparing for her GCSE in Art. Thanks to Nicki’s wonderful help and support over the years, my daughter has become an enthusiastic and accomplished artist. She loves and looks forward to her regular, weekly sessions with Nicki. They have explored all different mediums and worked on honing her artistic skills. It is an excellent supplement to the art she has done in school over the years. Her younger brother has also recently started regular art lessons with Nicki and is equally enthusiastic. I cannot recommend Nicki highly enough.
SHANNON LAWDER
Nicki and her wonderful team of teachers have been teaching our 5 children for the last ten years, since each one of them was 5 years old. The children have loved every lesson, have learnt an enormous amount about the different media and have acquired invaluable skills. Nicki has given them strong foundations in art and instilled in them great enthusiasm while supporting them to create some extraordinary and varied works they are all very proud of. Their art lessons with Young Artist has been a hugely formative part of their education. Thank you Nicki for everything and above all for your true and keen interest in the children and your real understanding of each one of them.
LADY MARKS
Young Artists has been teaching my daughter and her friends for two years now and we continue to be thrilled by the imagination and dedication of the teachers. The girls absolutely love the classes and look forward to them each week.
STEFFANIE DIAMOND BROWN
Nicki's lessons have given my children huge artistic confidence and ability - not just in their own skills, but in their understanding and knowledge of artists past and presents. I am stunned at which artists they can now recognize in galleries. And they love the lessons.
FRANCES OSBORNE
Young Artist has provided us with wonderful, caring and dynamic Art Teachers for our after school clubs for many years and the clubs have grown in popularity year on year and are thriving and much enjoyed by all. They offer children the opportunity to learn new skills in a fun and relaxed setting as well as allowing and encouraging the children to explore their own ideas and creativity