Neil Pinkett was born in St Just-in-Penwith in 1958 and spent his childhood in West Cornwall. After a successful career as an illustrator spanning twenty years, Neil decided to dedicate himself t painting full-time in the mid-1990s. An acclaimed solo-show followed almost immediately and since that point Neil has built a reputation as one of the foremost landscape painters in the county. Today Neil splits his time between Bath and Cornwall, spending the summer months living in his studio in Marazion, overlooking St Michael’s Mount.
Neil is one of several en plein air painters to emerge from St Just in recent years, the most prominent of whom is Kurt Jackson. He does much of his painting on location, occasionally from his canoe using a specially adapted easel and accompanied by his dog Beavis. Neil travels widely - landscapes and landmarks from these journeys feature heavily in his work. Recent projects have included a series of paintings of bridges from around the UK and another on the Scillonian ferry that operates out of Penzance harbour. Neil works predominantly in oil paints, texture and over-painting being used to create impressions of atmosphere and light.
Neil’s work has been shown and is collected throughout the UK. He has also undertaken painting tours and one-man shows across America.