Born in Claremont Terrace, overlooking Falmouth Harbour, the sea has always been a huge influence on Nigel’s life but he has only in the last seven years begun to fulfil his lifelong dream of sculpting in steel and copper.
Nigel’s experience working with metal
His wide and varied career, working with metal, so far has given him an extensive range of talents to form his amazingly lifelike sculptures. Leaving school at 14, with no formal qualifications, he served an apprenticeship with the local garage firm of RL Dale and Sons, acquiring the traditional metal shaping skills working on car bodies as a panel beater in a four year apprenticeship.
Later, working a casual at Falmouth Docks and as a production welder at Compair Holman’s in Camborne, he polished these skills enabling him now, to bring flat sheets of steel into life in such an exquisite manner.
Once a keen angler, Nigel began to use his intimate knowledge of both sea and freshwater fish, initially focusing on the iconic Cornish Mackerel and enigmatic John Dory. Each fish is individually honed into shape by hand, using traditional metal forming methods and tools. This gives each piece a different character and individuality. Although uniform no one fish can ever be totally replicated, such is their individuality.
The sumptuous colours of each piece are also one-off effects. The steel is heat tempered, a difficult technique which involves applying focused heat to the shaped steel, which then blooms into the iridescent green blue colours. Every piece is then hand marked and sealed to preserve its integrity.
Extending his ingenuity into other areas, he began to explore the possibilities of different species of sea fish, such as garfish, pollock and gurnard. Exploring the beauty of freshwater fish such as brown trout and rainbow salmon with more remote species such as Tuna, Shark and Flying fish recently added to his ever increasing subject matter.
Seahorses, crabs, seashells, birds, reptiles and insects have also challenged his creativity, transforming dull flat sheet metal into things of true beauty in exquisite detail.
Recently, he has also begun to explore the world of outdoor sculptures such as insects and flowers. Launching this whole new element of his art for the garden has helped to bring a new sense of atmosphere and intrigue to even the smallest space.
Examples of these works can be found in the ‘sculptures’ section of the website.
Techniques and traditional metal shaping techniques
Each fish is individually honed into shape by hand, using traditional metal forming methods and tools such as plenishing hammers, dollies and a leather sand bag. This gives each piece a different character and individuality. Although uniform no one fish can ever be totally replicated, such is their individuality.
The sumptuous colours of each piece are also one-off effects. The steel is heat tempered, a difficult technique which involves applying focused heat to the shaped steel, which then blooms into the iridescent green blue colours. Every piece is then hand marked and sealed to preserve its integrity.
