For decades, rugby league star Billy Slater captivated footy fans around the country with his sporting prowess.
Away from the limelight, the Melbourne Storm champ’s wife Nicole was his greatest support, quietly putting her own career dreams on hold to raise their two children.
While painting was her passion, “I didn’t have time to really focus on it,” Nicole explains.
She’s certainly making up for lost time now. In the past four years, Nicole, 39, has quietly carved out an international reputation for herself for creating bold and beautiful paintings of horses. And Billy, 40, couldn’t be prouder.
“Where Nicole has taken her art in the past few years has been really inspiring for us as a family,” he says.
Nicole’s chance to finally thrive at the easel came when the Slaters relocated from Melbourne to a rural property in late 2019, months after Billy retired from footy.
She had a spacious studio built and soon set to work.
“Then COVID came along, and suddenly everyone was in isolation. But we were so lucky – we had so much to do setting up our new home and my studio, and then I got to paint without interruption!” Nicole smiles.
Each day, she’d walk through a paddock, past sheep, goats and horses, to get to the studio.
“Sometimes people get in touch, wanting me to paint a beloved horse that’s passed away,” Nicole reveals.
“We shed a tear together as we go through photos of the horse, then I work to give them something special so they can cherish that horse’s memory.”
“Nicole sacrificed a whole heap of her aspirations for the first years of our relationship. But now she’s getting the attention she deserves,” says proud husband Billy.
The couple first met at their local pony club in north Queensland when Billy was just 13 and Nicole, 12.
“We weren’t attracted to each other back then – we were so young. We’d just go riding together,” Nicole recalls.
“Yep, it was just horses that connected us back then,” chimes in Billy.
“Nicole probably didn’t know or care I was also a kid obsessed with rugby league and I didn’t know she was an artist.”
But when the two reconnected a few years later, everything changed.
“Now I was attracted to her beautiful looks and outgoing personality,” grins Billy.
Within a year, he’d persuaded her to head south to live with him in Melbourne, and soon after they were married.
It was only after their daughter Tyla and son Jake (now 15 and 13) came along, and Nicole painted magnificent murals for them in each bedroom, that Billy suddenly felt his jaw drop in appreciation of her talent.
“Her work was incredible,” he sighs at the recollection.
“It’s no surprise for me now that others are appreciating her work from all over the world!”
Diagnosed with dyslexia as a child, Nicole has always had difficulty reading.
“So I didn’t do well at school and had to repeat some classes. But I threw myself into drama and creative arts, and always felt happy and confident. I don’t see my dyslexia as a setback. I think this helps me with my art – I look at things differently,” she reflects.
“People look at Billy and me and perhaps they don’t see at first what we have in common – after all, football and art are so different. But we’re both very grounded people. We both love, live and breathe horses, and love living in the country.”
“We’d both rather be shovelling horse sh-t than walking down a red carpet – that’s just who we are!” she adds with a laugh.
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