Chad Coleman

Chad was born in 1946, son of a Northamptonshire shoe manufacturer. He had the natural ability to draw and make things from an early age, and was always top of his class in Art and Crafts at school. His teachers strongly recommended that he study art but he was eventually pressured to join his father's trade, and spent two years in London learning how to make shoes. There followed a precarious career serving the foot of man - as shop assistant, trainee factory manager, shoe designer and pattern cutter. Somehow, Chad Coleman ended up as an executive in a huge company and he found that he quite enjoyed the work but absolutely hated being a cog in a big machine. In 1971, he gave up his career with the vague hope of becoming an artist. Having moved to a beautiful part of the South Coast, Chad Coleman was inspired by the beauty of his surroundings. He fell in love with the area, with its eccentric people and many friendly pubs. He drew things around him and started to sell a few works. By 1976, his portfolio had grown enough to enable him to start a small gallery and studio, and over the next ten years he started to produce editions of etchings which sold at home and abroad. By 1987 demand for his work was great enough to enable him to concentrate purely on artwork and to close his gallery and studio permanently. Chad Coleman lives and works in the countryside with his family and dog. They enjoy rural way of life growing vegetables, baking bread, shrimping, fishing, sailing and walking. Chad Coleman also loves woodwork, leatherwork, cooking, calligraphy, listening to music and pubs. His simple yet full life is reflected in his marvellous work.