Born
August 1968, Nick was raised in land locked Cheshire. His appetite for the ocean
life was firmly cemented during childhood holidays lobster fishing in Anglesey.
After studying art at North Cheshire College, nineteen year old Nick moved to
Newlyn, Cornwall working as a fisherman on a variety of vessels – including crabbers,
netters, trawlers and inshore boats. He continued to develop his art work, studying
life drawing and selling pictures throughout the 1990s, mainly through the Penzance
Gallery (Tony Sanders).
In 1994, Nick gained his Class II deck officer qualification with plans to further
his fishing career. Unfortunately, a motorcycle accident left him seriously injured,
and a forced change of direction took Nick to working on traditional square riggers,
acting as first mate on a replica 19th century schooner. Nick returned to Newlyn
to start and raise a family. Unable to pursue his offshore fishing career, he
worked as a boat builder, a welder, as mate and relief skipper on a local commercial
dive vessel, and fished his own inshore lobster boat. In 2009, he began to learn
the dying art of withy lobster and crab pot making, one of the inspirations for
his recent return to his artistic background.
The rich tapestry of Nick’s life in Newlyn has added a depth of knowledge and
understanding that those merely acting as bystanders are rarely privy to. His
art work is inspired by the fishermen, boats and people of Newlyn with whom he
has a genuine personal relationship and history.