This artist gives us a whole new way to think about 'house painting'

These paintings simply wouldn't look the same if they were made anywhere else. Nicole Charles is the painter, and she features in this latest episode of The Places We Make Art. As she reveals in the video, directed by JD Leblanc, she's only ever painted from her Toronto apartment. But there's more to that decision than mere convenience.

Known for a signature style — appealing watery abstractions like a mermaid's Rorschach test — she paints by pouring colourful, diluted pigments onto acrylic sheets, which she layers and layers until just the right sculptural depth is achieved. "It's an old house and the floors are uneven," she explains in the video. "The water and ink that I use settle and pool differently so that actually has a direct impact on the work." Press play to see this unusual method in action, and find her on Instagram to see more selections of her work.

More episodes of The Places We Make Art:

For Ekow Nimako, this is the best place in the world to play with Lego

Think you can handle a visit to this artist's kill room?

The Places We Make Art is a CBC Arts web series about just that. Profiling Toronto artists from from a multitude of disciplines, step into their creative lives by exploring the unexpected spaces that inspire them the most.