Collection: Nigel Fletcher

Nigel was born in the Cotswolds but now lives in a quiet Oxfordshire village between Oxford and Stratford upon Avon, where his work revolves around the changing seasons. He originally trained as an illustrator at Harrow School of Art in London, and a career in the commercial world as a freelance illustrator followed, but he continued to paint for his own pleasure, and since 2001 Nigel has painted for a living full time. He is another advocate of painting 'en plein air', in all weathers, but can also be found in his studio on a small dairy farm, where the rhythm of farm life goes on around him, and from which he derives quite a large part of his inspiration. But when he can he prefers the excitement of working outside, where there is an intimacy and spontaneity which is reflected in his work - it has an energy which he finds difficult to reproduce from a photograph. Nigel's work is representational and he strives to paint in a loose expressive way, allowing the brush-marks to show and to convey the same excitement he felt when he first engaged with the subject. He is equally at home using oils or watercolours, and although is new to exhibiting in galleries, we have snapped him up before the rest do! He is undoubtedly set for greater things than hitherto, and I expect him to become a big hit here in not so sleepy Rutland! His work has been featured in The Artist magazine, and has had work accepted and sold in the Royal Society of Oil Painters annual exhibition, and The Sunday Times Watercolour competition. One rather extraordinary coincidence, is that when Nigel was younger and still living with his parents, he actually lived next door to me in the little Oxfordshire village of Bodicote. We were at the age when our paths didn't really cross, but when stumbling across his work many, many years later, we realised this remarkable fact - two professional artists who were actually next-door neighbours in their youth! And now, with my own gallery selling some of the best art in the country and beyond, by a select band of hand-picked artists, Nigel was most definitely on my radar, and I am thrilled that we finally have his work on display.

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