I am a woodworker and painter from Wimbish, near Saffron Walden. From childhood I have enjoyed making things, drawing and painting. As a grownup I taught myself to make furniture and some years ago I also learnt decorative painting techniques. Eventually I decided to combine these various elements in a new kind of painted furniture.
I specialise in jewellery boxes, mirrors, and other furniture in wood, which I decorate with original paintings on metal leaf. My paintings are often inspired by landscape, trees or other natural forms and sometimes entirely abstract. I work mostly to commission.
My approach to woodworking is focused on the overall design and function, rather than the use of traditional techniques for their own sake.
The decorative painting provides the element which makes my work unique. Derived from a traditional method of imitating exotic materials, such as mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, it involves the application of metal leaf to the surface of the wood (gilding) which is then painted with thin oil washes to produce an effect in which the colours appear iridescent.
Once varnished the paintings are tough and not easily damaged.
As far as I know no one else is using this technique of decorative painting, which means my work is both unusual and genuinely unique. Come and see!
I have been a regular participant in Cambridge Open Studios since 2004 and exhibit at several craft shows every year.
WEBSITE: www.jeremynicholls.info
PHONE: 01799 599834
EMAIL: jn@jeremynicholls.info
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