Inspired by Felixstowe by Nigel Dickerson


For the past thirty years Norfolk and Suffolk, with their differing landscapes and seascapes, have been my home and my artistic inspiration.  For ten years I lived in Felixstowe with my family working as a teacher and artist. Our house in Felixstowe gained a reputation for being ‘interesting’.  Huge decorative sculptural pieces that we had made would briefly appear in our front garden when they returned from decorating musical festivals and other community events throughout the country.  Buses, cars and people would go slowly by to see the twelve-foot swans and twenty five-foot Guy Fawkes lanterns that were just two of the many sculptural pieces that we had made.
While living in Felixstowe, the beauty and diversity of its surrounding area fascinated me as an artist.  The sea, beaches, fields, woodland, estuaries, and the ever changing of seasons and weather, all became the subjects for my paintings.
I have always needed to paint and draw throughout my life, and consider being an artist as essential as breathing, not a profession.  I paint to learn about the world around me, working mainly from life on subjects such as landscapes, figuration, portraiture, still-life, and flowers.  I am fascinated by light, colour, and composition, and trying to balance these three dominates my work.
I mostly paint in oils, from life, combining traditional and Impressionist painting techniques and palettes. My inspiration has always been the truth to nature.  I paint and draw what I see as honestly as I can.
My other inspiration has always been artists; from Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Hokusai, Vincent Van Gogh, and thousands more.  I see them and their work as my teachers and friends.