I have always been creative, even from an early age. Although I have had no formal training or eduction in art, I am driven by a passion for art and the process.
I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t drawing, painting or making something. I have tried many forms of creativity and whether they were successful or not I have always learned something from it.
in the 1980’s, (pre-digital) I discovered a love for photography. learning how to develop film and print was more empirical than drawing, but taught me a lot about depth, tone, grain and image placement.
I opened a gift shop around this time and was selling some of my black and white photographs and airbrushed artwork as well as my regular stock.
Although I enjoyed painting, to help me learn more about perspective and movement I turned my attention to sculpting. After a couple of years I learned to make moulds and cast my work.This process led onto a business idea; ‘Incandescence candles’, a range of hand painted fantasy candles. Once the business had become established I started sculpting fantasy and mythological mirror frames. I exhibited at the N.E.C. Gift fair and traded at Glastonbury festival for quite a few years.
Here I met the renowned fantasy artist Peter Pracownik. We traded together at many different events and became great friends. Peter gave me the opportunity to collaborate and sculpt nine of his dragon tarot pictures for Collectable World studios. A very intense but rewarding project and my first experience of commercial commission sculpture.
The following decade family and domestic responsibilities took priority. Although I was not selling my work at this time I never stopped designing, painting or sculpting. The projects I was asked to help with were both exciting and varied, from motorcycle airbrush art, t-shirt and clothing logos, trike and chopper designs, kitchen cupboard handles and garden sculptures.
Finally I got back to my art and the idea of Gallery 59 was created...
Fascinated by tattoos and their growing popularity, combined with many years of studying Kendo and Bushido I found a natural affinity with Japanese tattoo and artwork, this seemed to me an obvious direction. I am already working on other varied and eclectic pieces and projects for the future.
Watch this space for more...
Nik
Biography
I was then commissioned to airbrush one of my designs onto a leather jacket, this progressed and led onto further leather jacket commissions and original artwork paintings.