Thirty-two year old Nick Tankard is a gallery assistant and bookseller at Salts Mill, immersed in the special ambience which makes Saltaire an inspirational place to live and work. Nick is also an accomplished artist, who has recently discovered his own unique style after experimenting with graphic techniques for many years. The theme for his latest project is the story of Titus Salt's journey from the Victorian Hell of Bradford to Elysian Saltaire and the creation of his Mill and Village – told in a series of  twelve to fifteen pen and ink images using a distinctive cross-hatching method. The first images are black and white, emphasizing the theme of dark shadows, with bright colours to be introduced as the story follows Titus into Saltaire.

You can see Nick's work (above) at Magic Number Three (2, Victoria Road), where the first two pictures in his Saltaire series are on sale as limited (50) edition fine quality prints and are  proving so popular that orders have already been placed for the third, on which  the artist is currently at work.  Nick was born and raised at nearby Carr Lane, Windhill, from where his bedroom window overlooked the Aire Valley and he lived with a view of Salts Mill through his childhood. Educated at Nab Wood Grammar, he then went on to do a graphic design course at Bradford and, drawn towards illustrating children's books, did a Higher National qualification at Middlesbrough and then a Degree at Wolverhampton.

With this background, he is strongly influenced by Northern industrial towns and their architecture, which he draws in what he describes as his own particular "wonky" style, using his own brand of fantasy and humour. Nick's Saltaire series has postponed work on another of his projects based on Whitby, where his focus was on seascapes and beards. Beards certainly feature in his quirky characterisation of Titus (always with a curl). On the evidence of his sales record so far, here is an artist with a very bright future ahead.

Roger Clarke