Nicholas Coleman

1978 - 0000

Born in Provo, Utah, Nicholas Coleman has been drawing and painting for as long as he can remember. His father, Michael Coleman, encouraged him to paint and draw as a child and has had a substantial influence on Nicholas’ work. Nicholas recalls his father’s advice to him when he was thinking about becoming an artist, “He asked, ‘What do you think about before you go to bed at night?’ I said, ‘What I'm going to paint the next day.’ He's like, ‘Well, that's good. That's the answer I wanted to hear, because if there was anything else, I was going to say, do that.’” By the time he was 21 years-old he says, “I knew I wanted to be an artist like my dad. And, I never thought it was easy, it's just one of those funny things that you enjoy, that you love and appreciate. And then you hope someone else is out there that has that same love and appreciation and is willing to pay you money to do it. But I count myself quite fortunate, and my father as well, to be doing this.”

Nicholas remembers his father saying, "You're only as good as your last painting,” advice which he has taken to heart and remembers in order to help motivate him to continue to improve. Nicholas works in both gouache and oil. He describes his style as realistic with an impressionistic feel. “I think when it comes to my paintings, [they’re] just a reminder that it's out there still. I do like to make things timeless [so that you] just look at it and you go, ‘Yeah, that could be now or that could be 100 years ago.’ And, I want to keep that. There is something about hunting that feels old-fashioned even though we're living in modern times, and I think some people think, ‘Oh, we're too civilized.’ The world is not civilized.”

When asked how he’d like to be remembered, Nicholas says, “I think any honors of men are transitory. I think I'd like to be remembered, hopefully, as just someone who shares their passion and enthusiasm and the love of the outdoors. And, it happened to be with artwork. I think that might be the way to be remembered, … I'm not sure how much future we have left going forward, but I doubt I'll make it in any of our history books or even a footnote. And, I don't think that's the goal. But it sure would be nice to be in a book of some kind.”

TRAPPER’S FEAST Oil on Canvas 20 x 16 inches