Thanks for checking out Nick Purser Originals. I hope you like my store. I've worked hard over the last few years to make the goal of becoming an artist a reality and if you like my work then it means we share something in common. Obviously we like the same aesthetics. We might well like the same music and have shared similar experiences. I love beauty. In people, architecture, music, painting, nature. Its part of what makes a designer. You always want to make or improve something. For whatever reason I'm compelled to paint. I have to do it. Many people are talented but feel no particular compulsion to produce. To be an artist, whether as a painter, a music producer, film maker or architect, you have to have a few essential elements in place and the first is that compulsion. Whether you get paid for it or not. The second is a little bit of talent. The third is determination. Relentless marching on despite failure after failure. And I've had loads of those. Now, I feel like I'm starting to get it right.
Opposite: Me and my beautiful wife, Vanessa
As a little kid, my head was in the clouds. Couldn't focus on a thing except art. Drawing was my way of getting noticed and praised. That was essential because I was fairly useless at everything else except reading. I love books and always have. Pure escapism. And music. I couldn't play a note but I loved music. 60s stuff, then metal. Metallica was everything for a few years. Then hip hop and house. Then jungle and drum and bass. I fell into the rave scene like a drunk in barrel of beer. It was totally absorbing and as an artist, it provided a massive source of inspiration. My first peice of graphic design was a flyer for my mates who were holding a night called Ascent at the Ministry of Sound. They just went in there one day, bold as brass and announced that they could bring coachloads of students from their universities. Done deal. I still couldn't use computers so I cut a stencil of the Ministry logo and did a little painting of a swimmer ascending from a deep sea. Had a mate scan it in and added the copy. It was such a buzz seeing something I'd designed printed and the joy of seeing that has never left me.
Opposite: My first graphic design job.
My Dad had got me a job at a local photographers studio. I learnt dark room printing and colour. Then the Progression Sessions CD came out and I phoned the number on the back and got a job at a little design agency called Propellor and went from there to Good Looking Records. A dream job as sleeve designer and photographer. Best days ever being part of a label whose sound was one of the founding pillars of the drum and bass scene. I designed the cover art, did the photography and designed all the ads and merchandise. It was awsome. I used art, illustration, collage - anything to get what I wanted for a cover idea.
Opposite: I needed a shot of somebody floating so I got my mate Gareth to take a shot of me lying across the boot of my trusty Ford Granada. This was in the car park at Good Looking Records, Watford.
Opposite: The great MC Conrad (R.I.P) out the front at Good Looking Records. In the background - Leon, my boss Tony's mastiff. One of my favourite shots.
Whilst working for Good Looking, I had the privilege of shooting so many great artists and producers including Cool Herc, Giles Peterson, Soul to Soul, Dave Angel, Afrka Bambaataa, Norman Jay, Juan Atkins, Derrick May the whole GLR crew and many more. My favourite shot though, is this one. Roger Sanchez had come over to play at a GLR night at The End but the airline had lost his record bag so Danny offered him his record box to go through for his set. He's holding a classic - Strings of Life by Rhythm is Rhythm (Derrick May and Michael James).
The great Norman Jay MBE, soundsystem pioneer and soul, disco and rare groove legend. This was taken at a Cookin' night at the Mars Bar.
After I left GLR, I worked at a small design agency in Clerckenwell called Harry Monk. I was able to work with other great artists in the dance music scene. Andy C from Ram Records, Chris Goss from Hospital, DJ Fresh and Adam F from Breakbeat Kaos and many more including Robbie Williams and the Bee Gees!
Opposite: the artwork for DJ Fresh - Escape From Planet Monday
For the last 20 years I've been freelancing and it's been brilliant working for myself. Most of my clients are the big Non Governmental Organisations and charities. They focus on Women's Rights, alleviating global poverty, Indigenous Rights and highlighting the exploitation of minerals by international corporations and countries.
Opposite: My annual report design for The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
I was always too busy earning a living as a designer to focus on art full time but I never stopped producing. I joined The Scrawl Collective - a group of artists that were part of the upcoming street art scene about 20 years ago. At the time I was really influenced by Japanese art and produced some nice screenprints that were sold out in boutiques stores around London. I was part of a small exhibition by Partners in Media Publishing (PIMP). I produced a series of paintings on mountboard but although they were good, they took far too long.
Opposite: Screenprint designs for the Scrawl Collective
I knew I needed to find a style to produce originals that didn't take forever but that wasn't compromised. After a long hiatus, I had started to design for a new D&B label called Violet Nights Recordings. Clinton and Neil from VNR got me back in the scene again. I had a following in the drum and bass community where people had liked my cover designs and I thought they might like affordable originals from me as well.
Opposite: One of a couple of dozen sleeve designs I've done for Violet Nights Recordings.
I had an idea to paint 12" original paintings and send them out in record sleeves. That was a brilliant experimental phase that loosened me up and forced me to work within a time frame and apply new techniques that I'd never used before.
Then I wanted to go bigger so started working on medium size canvases. And then on metre square ones. It just felt right. By chucking out all the old rules I'd tied myself down with, I was producing the best work I've ever done and fulfilling the dream of being a full time artist started to feel more realistic.
Opposite: A detail from 'Dust'
I discovered the most amazing gallery in Letchworth, my hometown and worked on putting on a big exhibition. It was superb and went better than I could have imagined.
Now I've launched this website which is the next big step. I'm what you call an 'emerging' artist in the industry. I've learnt a fair bit about it and there's a lot more to learn. The idea is collectors get involved early and the paintings are supposed to be worth a lot more as time goes on and new collections are created. The following gets bigger and the art more valuable. Thats the plan and I'm going to see it through. I can't and won't stop in any case! Browse the store and see if something appeals to you. If you buy a piece you'll enjoy owning it and hopefully it will turn out to be a good investment. And remember - "Its All A Matter Of Opinion".
Thanks, Nick :]
