Nick Holly Limited Edition Prints

Born in Swansea, South Wales in 1968, Nick lives and works, as he always has done, on the east side of Swansea. During his lifetime, much of the areas heavy industry has vanished and his paintings now voice his nostalgia for the scenery and atmosphere of his childhood.

“I’ve been brought up with it – I lived on the doorstep of industry, with coal tips along the river bank. There were times, as a child, when my dad and I would walk along the railway tracks opposite the house collecting coal and coke for the fire in the winter.”

Nick’s paintings move beyond personal memories to encompass images from throughout the last century. Different eras happily intermingle in his work and the diverse culture that makes up the communities he represents. Nick studied at Swansea College of Art and Design leaving in 1988 and serving an unofficial apprenticeship painting sets for local theatre groups. He has gradually established a reputation as a chronicler of urban South Wales and as his work has developed so has his interest in the urban landscape outside Wales, with New York providing an especially rich source of inspiration. As his horizons have broadened, so his work has become increasingly collected and Nick is now firmly established as one of Wales’s best-loved contemporary artists, with a reputation reaching far beyond his home country. Nick has regular sell out solo exhibitions with collectors queuing before the opening to secure specific paintings.

His pallet consists of mainly blues and greys with small touches of red which draws the viewer to a particular area within the painting. “The red colour draws the eye into the painting. It is a technique I use to help people recall the scene.”

“For some years now, yellow taxis, fire hydrants, the Chrysler Building and the Brooklyn Bridge have featured in my work. People who are familiar with my paintings will know that they are neither pretentious nor hold some deep hidden meaning. As always, the work remains simple: children at play, cats, dogs and bustling street scenes or lazy days at the seaside. From South Wales to Amsterdam and from North Africa to New York, one thing I always find interesting is that no matter where in our world you go there are children and they all play the same types of games.”