{"id":70,"date":"2026-04-23T20:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/?page_id=70"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:19:24","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Young\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\n\t\t\tNikol Che Sikijovski\n\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t\t\tArtist from Bitola (Macedonia)\n\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\n\t\t\tBorn to express himself through color and form\n\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI am a visual artist from Bitola, born in 1982. My first serious step into the world of art began at the \"Kole Kaninski\" Primary school, where I actively participated in the art section and discovered my talent and love for drawing.

I completed my secondary education at the \"Taki Daskalo\" school, specializing in printmaking. After graduating, I spent several years intensively developing my artistic skills, particularly within the artists' group around Risto Dimovski, under the mentorship of the renowned painter Zlatko Gecovski. This period was crucial for my artistic development, through practical learning, sharing experiences, and daily inspiration.

My preferred technique is oil on canvas. This technique allows me to best express my inner world. However, I am also interested in abstract art and sculpture, which represent new fields of discovery and challenge for me. Portraiture holds a special place in my work; the moment when one captures the essence, expression, and soul of a person deeply inspires me.

My art is a reflection of my journey from a young student with a brush in hand to a mature artist who continues to learn, research, and create.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\n\t\t\tWhy a Portrait?\n\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEven today, I stand by the side of my beloved wife Elena\u2014without her, I don\u2019t know if I would even still be alive. For a long time, I have wondered why I feel such a strong pull toward drawing portraits. I remember faces I sketched as a small child: my paternal grandmother Stojna, my art teacher Cane, Vesna, Mile, and many others.

But what I remember most vividly is the creation of the portrait of Mr. Vlade, known by the nickname \u201cMeceto\u201d (\u201cLittle Bear\u201d). He was visiting with his wife, Mrs. Menka. She was a nurse by profession, and years later my wife and I affectionately called her \u201cThe Cheerful One\u201d because of her distinctive and contagious laugh.

Menka was probably a distant relative of my father, who at the time worked together with Mr. Vlade as a truck driver for the state company \u201cMakedonski \u0160umi.\u201d While they sat at the dining table enjoying their meze\u2014a selection of fresh salads, cheese, and cold cuts\u2014I sat on one of the two sofas by the window. In that four-by-four-meter room, dominated by a huge one wall unit on the west side and a dining table with six chairs in the middle, the space felt cramped.

Through the gap between two chairs, my gaze froze on his mustache. Back then, such a mustache was a rarity in our surroundings; only a few people I knew had one. I drew him quickly. We children, around seven or eight years old, were expected to remain quiet while the adults sat at the table. If we wanted any of the sweets on the table, we had to ask our mother first. While Vesna and my older brother Goran took turns asking for treats, their eyes fixed on the \u201cKon\u010dar\u201d television and playfully begging, I drifted into my own world.

I drew Vlade \u201cMeceto,\u201d and to everyone\u2019s surprise\u2014including my own\u2014it really looked like him! As I stood up with the notebook in my hand to go to the kitchen, Mrs. Menka noticed the portrait. As an attentive adult who always kept an eye on the children, she exclaimed in her unmistakable voice: \u201cBut you\u2019ve drawn Meceto!\u201d She burst out laughing and repeated, \u201cLook, it\u2019s exactly him!\u201d

Me, at the center of attention? I wondered what was happening. Everyone in the room looked at me. Those few seconds felt like an eternity. My parents, who knew little about art, now looked at me differently. A new meaning hung in the air. How important I felt... all eyes were on me. A seven-year-old child experiencing his own nirvana\u2014a grand performance in a small room.

Unfortunately, I did not keep that portrait. I still have the drawings of my art teacher Cane and of Vesna from class 8-D, but that portrait is lost. What remains, however, are the memories of my parents\u2019 gazes in that moment.

I was a frail child who had suffered from bronchitis since the age of two\u2014barely strong enough to even be here today. I endured countless infusions and the penicillin injections of that time. With pencil and paper, I simply wanted to be loved, to receive the same attention and love as my older brother. A trace from that time is the scar on my right thigh, where\u2014because of my restlessness or the nurse\u2019s carelessness\u2014the needle of an injection broke off. I still feel the consequences of this incident today; with age, they cause me increasing discomfort.

But look at the portrait I drew\u2026 look at it and know:
I am HERE.

Today, I paint a wide variety of subjects, but portraiture is what I do when I am alone with myself. Only when I try to capture a soul does the paint begin to speak to me. And me? I am alive.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\n\t\t\tNikol Che Sikijovski\n\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikol Che Sikijovski Artist from Bitola (Macedonia) Born to express himself through color and form I am a visual artist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-70","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":112,"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1042,"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70\/revisions\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vladimirpikidev.com\/art\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}