Hallard was born in the Midlands and trained initially as an engineer.  Leaving engineering for art, he moved to Cornwall in 1967 to establish a working studio and gallery in Mousehole, where he also shows the crafts of other artists alongside his own paintings.  This attractive gallery can be visited (Nigel Hallard Studio) at Keigwin Place, Mousehole.

Twenty years later he rediscovered an interest in the Midland industrial landscape of his younger years, and has involved himself in aspects of art for industry, receiving several important commissions nationally.  Since 1989 he has also worked from his own 17th century studio in Dinan, Brittany, and from the late 1990s has also travelled to paint regularly in New Zealand, since spending a year there (1997).