Nathan Pegler from Winterbourne Bassett left Swindon’s Honda manufacturing plant in 2014 to become his own boss and turn a passion for pastel art into a career.
At a job fair organised by his former employers, the 51-year-old met with representatives from Business West who signed him up for a mentorship program which advised him on how to get his start-up off the ground.
In the decade that followed, he gained a loyal group of regular customers and commissioners, visited conventions around the country to share his work, and branched out into drawing ink sketches and caricatures inspired by sci-fi films and TV.
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Nathan is hosting an informal event at the Winterbourne pub on Saturday, November 2, from 12pm to 4pm to mark the occasion, which will include a timeline display of his creative efforts, and signed 2025 calendars for sale.
Nathan said: “It’s quite a major milestone, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years.
“I was already a reasonably good artist and I wanted it to be a business as well as a hobby.
“The first day that I did not have to go to Honda was when it sunk in that I was on my own and that this had to work.
“Starting any new business can be a slog, but I’ve had a lot of support from the community and artist friends, so it’s grown significantly and gone from strength to strength.
“I used to work in my spare room and turned that into a studio, then two years in, I rented a small unit from the farm next door which now has my studio and office and my wife’s studio all in one place.
“I had a little rebrand during the pandemic to add an illustration to my business name, it’s a bit different to what I started out doing and has evolved.
“I’ve improved as an artist – especially with inks and pens – and am itching to get back to my pastel art roots.
As well as devising artwork inspired by film and TV, the owner of NJP Pastel Art and Illustration has joined many of these fictional worlds himself by popping up in small roles as a supporting actor.
Over the years, he has shared the screen with stars of Poldark, Doctor Who, No Time To Die, and – most recently – Rivals. He has not yet added one of the background characters he’s played into his work but was delighted by the suggestion.
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