Nick Orsborn
Biography
Nick Orsborn was born in London in 1948 and studied Fine Art at Kingston and Reigate Colleges of Art from 1966 to 1970. He has lived and worked as a professional artist and designer in Brighton since 1970. Largely self-taught in watercolour, it has been his medium of choice for over 50 years.
His exhibitions include a solo show at Smiths Gallery, Covent Garden, London, in 1987 and ‘Six Artists at Harrods’ at the Knightsbridge Department Store Art Gallery in 1988. His work has also been commissioned and selected for publication, including for the Brighton Festival and the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. ‘Under the Volcano’ was used for the poster for OXFAM’s ‘Art for a Fairer World’ exhibition in 1992.
Artist Statement
Nick Orsborn’s great love is watercolour, which he sees as offering a perfect balance between freedom of expression and a disciplined approach to realising an idea or feeling. His paintings largely express the brighter, optimistic side of life rather than its darker moments, often with humour and gentle irony.
Orsborn rarely works from life, except when painting flowers. His watercolours emerge from imagination, visual and verbal associations, and memories of things seen. His preparatory drawings are simple scribbles, after which he paints directly onto the paper, drawing with his brush rather than using pencil. Although his work is largely figurative, he continually explores the abstract qualities of the medium.