E.V. painter refines the art of hustling

Here’s a comparison that might make most artists shudder: Nicole Royse very well could be the East Valley’s Thomas Kinkade.

Not that she’s cranking out idyllic townscapes; her acrylic-on-canvas creations tend toward vibrant florals in extreme close-up and abstract experiments with color and texture, globs of paint thick enough to resemble cake frosting.

And not that she’s raking in millions from a throng of middle-class fans. The 24-year-old still has a day job as a real estate office manager.

Yet both artists share a similar message — or lack thereof: All they really want to offer the viewer is a bit of uplifting eye candy.

“I like to brighten spaces,” Royse says.

The 2006 Arizona State University graduate who lives in Tempe with her husband, Robb, has brightened numerous local walls since her debut exhibit in October. And there’s where Royse and Kinkade converge again: in sheer ubiquity.

Just as the latter’s art stretches from mall gallery franchises to coffee mugs and calendars, Royse hauls her work to just about any space that’ll have her, from libraries to hair salons to coffeehouses and restaurants. Oh, and a few traditional galleries, too. In the past nine months, Royse has logged 13 exhibitions, with six more on the calendar, from an August solo exhibit at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe to a group exhibit in the lobby of ASU’s Gammage Auditorium later in the month.

That’s because Royce has learned what many artists never do — the art of the hustle.

“I’m a highly driven person. I’m always looking for new places to show,” Royse says, packing up the 10 paintings she took to Scottsdale’s Souvia Tea for a one-night showing earlier this month, an exhibition (the tea shop’s first) that lasted just 2 1/2 hours.

“If I’m interested in a place, I’ll e-mail them,” Royse says. “The key is that follow-up is huge. A lot of artists don’t, because they’re flaky.”

She tends to favor nontraditional exhibit spaces like the tea shop, though she’s also featured in galleries like downtown Chandler’s Art on Boston. She relishes the feedback from coffeehouse crowds, mingling with customers, catching reactions from folks who aren’t necessarily arts aficionados. A self-described introvert, Royse says these showings are “the one time I get to meet people. It gets me out of my shell.”

“I get more interaction by not being in a gallery atmosphere, where there’s pressure to buy something,” she explains. “If I sell something, that’s always a bonus.”

Perhaps Royse’s desire simply to offer viewers pleasant beauty — a genuine want, not a commercial strategy — has roots in her own experience with art. As a young girl, artistic expression was a form of escapism: Born in Las Vegas and shuttled between Orange County, Calif., and the Valley for much of her turbulent youth, Royse says a mother battling substance addiction ultimately led to her being raised by her grandparents, who brought her to the East Valley in time to attend high school here.

Teachers at Mesa Community College encouraged her to pursue her art, and at ASU she earned a degree in art history. Her work makes a major nod to the so-called New York School of artists and, in particular, Georgia O’Keeffe.

Royse says much of the reason she’s been able to book so many exhibitions so soon in her career rests in the fact that her work doesn’t contain any overt message — it’s controversy-proof.

“I’m able to get shows,” she says, “because they don’t want a statement.”

For an artist whose only message is “have wall, will exhibit,” that suits her just fine.

Art exhibit

Nicole Royse’s works are now showing at Art on Boston Gallery, 11 W. Boston St., Chandler, through Oct. 14; Essenza Coffee House, 1350 S. Longmore, Mesa, through Sept. 1.

Upcoming exhibits: The Bistro at Kokopelli Winery, 35 W. Boston St., Chandler, Tuesday through Aug. 31; Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock Drive, Tempe, Wednesday through Aug. 31; Gammage Auditorium, 1200 S. Forest Ave., Tempe, Aug. 16 through Oct. 15.