Nigel Sharman

MEET THE MAKER

NIGEL SHARMAN

Since the mid 1980’s, Nigel has worked across several design fields both in the UK and the US. While his formal artistic education came from the University of Brighton, he attributes his real education to ”being dragged round the galleries of West Penwith in Cornwall as a small boy by my father and introduced to work by Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson.” Dividing his time between London and Cornwall, Nigel’s heart lies firmly in the South West of England, where the landscape and culture continue to inspire his work.

Working with a limited colour palette of oil paints on canvas, Nigel has particular concern for colour and composition. He paints semi-figuratively, starting from a source such as a landscape, a harbour, boats or a group of objects. He is fascinated by the beauty of ordinary everyday objects and arranges still life compositions of striking simplicity, striving to create a feeling of calm through careful placement and attention to colour relationships. Whilst harbours represent both places of calm and sanctuary and the beginning of a journey, their mouths beckoning to the unknown world beyond. 

Ultimately, Nigel’s aim is to create compositions that are at once deceptively simple and highly sophisticated.  Unfolding their meaning over time and offering an ever-changing experience whenever they are viewed.