Nick Eggleston: The Dogs

The work I have seen to date is superb with the usual immaculate skill and the unusual sense of humour we have come to enjoy in Nick's paintings.

When I first saw examples of his painstaking picture making I began to appreciate the wonderful process in what many consider to be the most difficult of painting styles. This attention to detail , accurate drawing and highly original composition make Nick's watercolours so interesting and unique.

Nick's thought provoking painting 'Neo' watercolour 2012.

The words around the halo in 'Neo' read , 'For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with eyes turned skywards , for there you have been and there you will long to return'. The quote is by artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci and relate to his obsession with flight.

Last weekend I took Nick to meet Owen Dippie at Owen's Ashworth Lane Studio and Gallery.

It was a joyful meeting of talent and the respect both artists showed towards each other’s work was clearly evident. Nick and Owen are extremely busy at the moment as they work towards their respective exhibitions.

Nick who is also tutoring art at Turning Point Trust in Tauranga's Historic Village is busily preparing to exhibit 'The Dogs' at the well-known Artists Room Gallery' in Dunedin. Sales and demand for Nick's work in Dunedin have given rise to a solo exhibition of 'The Dogs' at the gallery. It is destined to be a huge success if pre-exhibition interest is any indication.

Owen, meanwhile, is working on paintings for his 'Ink' exhibition in early September. These stunning works, this time with the brush and on very large canvases, are head only portraits featuring contemporary tattoo and traditional ta moko.

One I saw depicted the tattooed face of a gang member and is the most chilling portrait I've ever seen. The experience reminded me of just how powerful portraits can be. The series when completed needs to be exhibited in a public gallery.

'Salvador Charlie' watercolour 520mm x 300mm 2012 

'Salvador Charlie' is a great example of Nick's humour where a stencil graffiti image of surrealist painter Salvador Dali has been worked into the markings of a English Bull Terrier pup's coat. 

"The real allure in watercolour for me is the magical alchemy involved and it's as much about the enjoyment of the actual painting process than producing a finished work,” says Nick.

"Watercolour painting cannot be fully mastered, for to master a thing you would have to control it completely.

“That would squeeze the life out of it. I love the changes that occur during the picture making as you guide the application of colour while not completely controlling it. The pigments carried by water flow into each other and one colour can become another colour right before your eyes ".

Nick and his partner Paula emigrated to New Zealand from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands in 2006 and since then he has established a solid reputation as one of our leading Bay of Plenty artists.

This reputation is rapidly becoming national.

See some of the dogs on www.artnik.weebly.com Nick welcomes commission work and can be contacted at artnik@xtra.co.nz

by Pete Morris (May, 2012).

Pete Morris is an occasional painter and an art lover. He is a freelance writer with a particular interest in promoting the visual arts in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.