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About Me
I have had a passion for drawing and painting for as long as I can remember. Combining this with an enthusiasm for all things horsey meant that this naturally became the focus of my doodles whilst growing up.
Brought up on a Welsh Pony stud (www.milfordwelshponies.co.uk) in North Yorkshire, I was lucky to have an abundance of subject matter around me. I spent most of my free time riding and helping with the ponies and started showing at a very early age.
Highlights of my early showing career include qualifying for HOYS riding a homebred, home-produced stallion in 2000 & 2001, after which a lack of time and later moving to university meant that I had to take a break from showing.
My other dream in life was to become a vet and to this end, along with showing, art took a backseat. After completing an art GCSE, I completely gave up drawing or painting whilst I worked towards becoming a vet.
Five years later, in summer 2008 during a particularly 'challenging' day of revision, I put pencil to paper as a distraction ('Trotting Cob'). After this I completed a couple of drawings for myself before putting art to one side again. In May 2009 I completed my first painting as a gift for a friend ('Winterstorm'), after which I decided to begin taking commissions. I couldn't have wished for more appealing subject matter for my first two commissions. The first of these, 'Foal Study', was completed in October 2009 and shortly after this I was honoured to be asked to paint three of the most successful contemporary show horses ('Three Champions '):- The Humerist, The Philanderer and The Keystone Cob. All three were HOYS champions in 2009 (amogst other achievements) with The Philanderer taking the accolade of supreme horse of the year. The painting went down sufficiently well that I have been asked to repeat the picture, which is currently a work in progress!
All of my completed pieces can be viewed in the gallery, which is being added to all the time.
Email: enquiries@slnixon.co.uk
Website designed by & images © Sophie Lyra Nixon 2009