Born in 1957, Nigel grew up in the village of Kinver, Staffordshire. From a early age he showed a keen interest in painting – his rural up-bringing resulting in his choice of wild birds and landscapes as the subject for his work.


After leaving school at eighteen, Nigel spent a year at Art College before deciding that teaching would be a suitable career to follow. Despite his abiding passion to paint professionally, he felt that this was a pipe dream and that teaching would offer a more realistic future. However, after twelve months studying for a degree in education, it was apparent that he was not cut out for the classroom.


Taking the bull by the horns, Nigel made the decision that no career could fulfil him other than one in art, so in 1977, at the age of twenty, he turned processional.


Although he saw himself first and foremost as a wildlife Artist, Nigel nevertheless realised that, at least initially, he would need to find a potentially more lucrative subject in which to specialise. With this in mind, in order to stand a chance of establishing himself as an Artist, animal portraits – specifically peoples pets seemed to afford him this opportunity. In those early years he would paint any animals requested of him, but in time it became apparent that it was dogs, above all other pets, that were the most requested.


In 1982, Nigel married. His new wife, Sue, brought with her a dog and cat. Never having lived with large pets before, the experience came as a revelation. Nigel’s appreciation, not only of dogs, but more importantly their relationship with us, started to grow. As a result his attitude and approach to his work began to change, culminating in a painting entitled ‘In Retirement’. Its combination of pathos, character and narrative, ensured that it met with considerable popular acclaim. For Nigel it represented a turning point in his career, which ultimately led to his abandoning any serious desire to paint wildlife. Instead he chose to concentrate on his canine subjects and developed the distinctive style of narrative dog painting that has become the hallmark of his work today. As he says himself, ‘I try to paint pictures, not simply of dogs, but about dogs’.


"With regards to my wildlife painting, one of the artists that has influenced me most is Archibald Thorburn. Despite the fact that he painted primarily in watercolour, his large Scottish Highlands scenes of game birds and Red Deer were hugely influential on my own wildlife paintings of the late Eighties and early Nineties, Although I no longer paint wildlife to any great degree, I still refer to his work today for certain aspects of setting, light and composition.


"In terms of my narrative dog painting, the subject for which I am best known, there are many individual works by various artists that I have admired and derived inspiration from. However, Sir Edwin Landseer is by far and away my favourite artist. He was also the favourite of Queen Victoria, perhaps the only thing that I shall ever have in common with royalty!! One work, "The Old Shepherds Chief Mourner" is, for me, the finest piece of narrative dog painting ever - a purely subjective opinion, of course.


"I am not an ambitious person; I feel that any success that I have enjoyed as an artist is as much due to luck, as talent - being in the right place at the right time. Nevertheless, for whatever reason I have enjoyed the success that has come my way, the desire and drive to continue creating images that people will, hopefully, derive some pleasure from, is in no way diminishing and I strive constantly to get better at it."