PICTURES: NIAL ADAMS
Local Arts
ABOVE: ‘Big Brooding Skies’ by Norfolk artist Nial Adams, and (oppsosite) a detail from his atmospheric work ‘The Slave Ship – Interpretation’
Capturing the beauty
and the spirit of Norfolk
The skies of Norfolk have captivated artists for hundreds of years,
and local landscape painter Nial Adams is no exception – thanks
to life-long love of the Old Masters and an inspirational father...
T
he artistic journey of Nial
Adams started at a very early
age. His father was the
accomplished and extremely
knowledgeable artist, artteacher and art-restorer Fred Adams,
who ran an arts supplies and framing
shop in Norwich in the late 1960s, and
before Nial could speak he knew the
smell of turps and oil paints.
“As a small child I’d watch my father
work in oils and pastels, frame paintings
and sketch beautifully,” he says. “I’d
often watch him draw, effortlessly
gliding a pencil over the paper as he ‘felt
out’ a line with genuine emotion and
tenderness.”
When he was ten, Nial’s early creativity
“Every artist dips his brush
in his own soul and paints
his own nature in his pictures...”
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KLmagazine May 2016
KLmagazine May 2016
had extended little beyond making
things from old cereal boxes, toilet rolls
and coloured pencils, but his father
decided it was time for him to explore
oil painting.
“As with all his students, he started by
teaching me in monochrome and
grounded me in the essential skill of
creating tonal value,” says Nial. “Before
approaching landscape painting I had to
paint spheres and other shapes to
understand how light falls on objects
and how shadows are cast. I had to learn
brushwork and control.”
He also had to learn from the past.
“My father’s knowledge of the Old
Masters was unsurpassed,” he says. “In
addition to their histories and
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PICTURES: NIAL ADAMS
Local Arts
ABOVE: The serene beauty of ‘Big Blue Skies’ and the drama of ‘Waiting For the Storm to Pass’ are typical of Nial’s stunning landscapes
biographies, he also studied their
techniques – the application of paint
and the ‘chemistry’ or ‘alchemy’ of the
great oil painters.”
The pair visited numerous galleries,
and Nial developed an enduring love of
painters such as Caravaggio, Velázquez,
Millais – and his personal favourite, JMW
Turner.
“Turner's work – the energy, the rich
but often dark colours, the light – all
stirred my soul like nothing I’d ever
experienced,” he says. “It still has the
same effect upon me today, and I
encourage everyone to visit a Turner
exhibition at least once in their lifetime.”
During the school holidays of
Christmas 1979 Nial painted his first
landscape, but he wasn’t quite ready to
pursue an artistic career yet. He worked
on a self-employed basis in the security
industry, he travelled, he changed
career, and he settled down as a
husband and father.
“I knew the story of the penniless artist
all too well,” he says, “but I was always
planning to paint more, to spend more
time with my father at the easel. Art was
always something I’d ‘get around to’ –
even though my passion for the subject
never waned.”
Fate then tragically stepped in when
Nial’s father died suddenly.
“It was the most shocking catalyst of
all,” he says. “There was no more chance
to share ideas, to ask questions or to
simply talk about art.”
Inheriting his father’s wonderful old
French easel, his brushes, and a huge
collection of art ephemera, Nial also rediscovered the very first landscape he’d
painted at the age of ten.
“It brought back warm memories but
at the same time a frustrating sense of
unfinished business,” he says. “I can’t
explain what happened or why. I simply
knew I had to paint again. It was time to
pick up the brushes.”
Today, Nial is one of Norfolk’s bestloved landscape artists, and his
landscapes (both realistic and
impressionistic) reflect his life-long love
of the Old Masters and his father’s
tremendous inspiration and guidance.
Whether they feature clouds floating
through Summer skies or the wild drama
of wind and storms, Nial beautifully
captures the sensation of light, the air
and the emotion of open spaces. Not
surprisingly, he chose Big Norfolk Skies
as his studio title in 2014.
“The thing I want most to express in
my work is that we’re truly blessed with
a beautiful county,” he says. “We all need
to take time to stop and enjoy a
beautiful sunset or sky, no matter what
the time of year or weather.”
Despite his work gaining wider
attention and recognition, Nial remains
true to the spirit of those great
landscape painters who preceded him –
painting not for gain or fame, but for the
sheer pleasure of the art.
“I paint because I can and because I
need to,” he says. “It’s the most powerful
form of self-expression for me. I love the
process – the challenge of taking ideas
and images and creating illusions. I even
enjoy the sense of nervous expectation
before I start painting! The end result is,
as they say, what it is – it comes from
within and I hope it connects us.”
For more details of Nial’s work and for
information on limited edition prints,
commissions and his tuition and
support for local artists, please visit
www.bignorfolkskies.co.uk
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KLmagazine May 2016
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