Nigel Leighton
Nigel was born in 1954 in Tredegar Monmouthshire before moving to Leeds.
He has spent all his working life in art education mainly in the North West of
England. He has been a teacher, the director of an education art centre and a
municipal art gallery and an artist in residence.
Although he has always produced his own work, he began a full-time career as an
artist in 2010. He is currently based in Coldingham in the Scottish Borders.
Originally trained in fine art and ceramics he has maintained an interest in both
disciplines utilising mixed-media and ceramics in both his two- and three-
dimensional work.

“My work is invariably abstract in nature invoked
by a momentary thought, a past memory or the
result of unconscious discovery through day
to day making. Subject matter is inspired from a
range of sources including eroded surfaces,
archaeology and ancient artefacts, symbolism
and mythology.
Whatever media or format I am working in,
the layering and presence of marks
and textures is central to realising an idea.
Whilst constructing a piece of work, I am
always conscious of the real and unreal nature
of the emerging object or surface which is
being produced. Although I work intuitively an
idea can often be triggered by its resulting title
which may or may not suggest some form of
narrative.
Through the materials and processes I employ,
I strive to achieve a timelessness both ancient
and modern in my work capable of capturing
a particular mood or presence. The emergent
result can appear ambiguous or elusive but
hopefully in its essence, provide a Sense of Time.”