Riki R. Nelson is a contemporary American oil painter known for her realistic and surreal portraits of jazz musicians, bar patrons, city street scenes.

[1] Using traditional realism, which she complements with contemporary colors and compositions, she expresses a uniquely creative vision rooted in the elegance of traditional realism, while utilizing subtle surrealism to capture what she perceives as ‘the undercurrent of pathos’ in contemporary life.

She was painting and drawing from an early age and was further encouraged in this by her mother's love of the arts and poetry and her families’ now retired fine art and antique business; Pearl Antiques of Los Gatos.

Her work has been carried and featured by the Peabody Fine Art Gallery[6] of Menlo Park & Los Gatos since 2005.

Nelson has donated both time and art to charities over the years including :The Los Gatos Art Association, The American Pen Women, Pacific Autism, and the organizations that sponsor Jazz on the Plazz in Los Gatos, CA.