A Life Painted in Light: The Story of Spencer Baird Nichols Spencer Baird Nichols, born in Washington D.C. in 1875, was an artist whose name, though recognized within artistic circles during his lifetime, has drifted somewhat into the shadows of art history. A portraitist, illustrator, and muralist of considerable talent, Nichols’ story is one marked by both creative flourishing and heartbreaking loss. His early life was steeped in artistry; his father, Henry Hobart Nichols, was a celebrated wood engraver who contributed significantly to John James Audubon's monumental work, *The Birds of Am…