Nicola Bealing - Associate Artist

Nicola Bealing was born in 1963, and studied Fine Art at the Byam Shaw School of Art. Since moving to Cornwall in 1988 her paintings have been exhibited each year in the West Country and in London, where she has regular one-woman shows at Cadogan Contemporary Gallery. The feature article in the magazine Artists & Illustrators reported that "Everything in Nicola Bealing's paintings is either on the move or on the point of breaking into a dance." The artist confirms "I hate being precious with paint. I like to keep it moving, keep it exciting!"

We were particularly drawn to Nicola Bealing's work for its movement, its humour and fantasy, the great play of light and the sheer quality of her output. Nicola is a regular finalist for the BP Portrait Award and her painting Race of Giants is the front cover for Ensemble Lumière's CD, Piper's Dream.

Race of Giants and a number of her other paintings provide the focus for some of our educational workshops (involving student compositions and performances), and for several new works by professional composers for our concerts.