Back to Botswana

I was very lucky to return to Botswana for a safari this July/August. Wow! What an amazing trip. For the first time I travelled in to the vast Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to sleep under the stars and meet a family of wild Meerkats. It is hard to describe how empty but how beautiful this place is. The silence and simple palette of colours is mesmerising and so inspiring. In comparison, the lush greens and golds of the Okavango Delta was a total contrast. Experiencing some of the highest water levels in 40 years, parts of the Delta and neighbouring Savuti Marsh are now under water and carpetted in water lillies. I was so lucky to be able to visit African Horseback in the heart of the Okavango Delta and ride with some of the most experienced riding escorts I have ever met. Both horses and riders were superb and it was the most wonderful way to watch wildlife. Elephants and buffalo, warthogs and antelope largely ignored the horses and the peace of riding through Mopane forests and vast savannah was overwhelming. I loved being there. Such an inspiring place in which to paint.

NEWA 16th July -1st August

This year I will be entering three paintings into NEWA, one of the UK's most prestigious and exciting wildlife art events. 'Tawny Owl on a Dead Tree ' shown here, is one of the pieces to be submitted. Such a lovely subject to paint with its intense, black eyes and soft, russet coloured plumage. This owl is so often heard but hard to spot in the dense canopy of deciduous woodland where it prefers to live. I once followed three newly fledged chicks, scrambling through the branches of some huge oaks in a sprawling old garden in noisy pursuit of their parents. Whenever one arrived with a vole or mouse the chicks flapped and screamed their determination to grab the mouthful. The failing light eventually frustrated my attempts to watch them but I listened to their noisy progress through the trees and away.

The NEWA exhibition has grown and developed over the years and is a great showcase for many of the UK's wildlife artists and also attracts entries from further afield. Together with the MIWAS exhibition, it is one of the summer's most exciting events for artists and wildlife art enthusiasts alike.

NEWA 16th July - 1st August, 2010

Gordale Nursery and Garden Centre

Burton,

Chester High Road,

Wirral, CH64 8TF http://www.-newa-uk.com/

Nature in Art and NEWA

Now that British Summer time has started it is time to think of all the events and exhibitions which are scattered through the next few months and two are now definite. The first will be in May at Nature in Art near Gloucester. I will be artist in residence from May 18th - 23rd with a sculptor called Wendy Hunt. So, if anyone is in the area please do visit. Nature in Art is a fantastically inspiring place for wildlife artists and enthusiasts so well worth a visit. I am looking forward to being there in early summer and enjoying some walks in the countryside.

NEWA - The National Exhibition of Wildlife Art - will run this year from July 16th -August 1st and is held at Gordale Nursery and Garden Centre in The Wirral. For details and more information visit http://www.newa-uk.com/. This exhibition has grown into one of the most prestigious wildlife art exhibitions in the UK and attracts artists from around the world. The painting of the Zebra mare and Foal pictured here will be exhibited at NEWA and will be for sale. I have been planning a companion painting of a young male Kudu to go with it as I saw both the Zebras and Kudu in the Boteti river bed. The colours of that day left a lasting impression. If time allows it would be great to paint that other picture.

Dinosaurs!

At last a chance to put something on my Blog spot. I have been illustrating dinosaurs for a children's book since Christmas and only just finished. I feel as if I have painted through winter, emerging from behind the easel as the spring arrives to start planning commissions and exhibitions. 2010 has been really busy so far but that is great!

Exhibition and Auction December 4th - 12th

I have just delivered all my paintings to the Martin's Gallery in Cheltenham for The Natural World Exhibition . See my last post below for details.

This painting of Warthogs , entitled 'Curiosity' will be in the exhibition. I painted it after a safari to Botswana when we had seen two family groups of Warthogs at a waterhole in Savuti. They are the most comical characters and such fun to watch as they trot about around the edge of the elephant herds. I love their shape and the energy in their movements and the way they carry their tails straight up in the air when scooting away from danger!

Often you see Warthogs and Guinea Fowl at a waterhole together and it is the interactions between all the different creatures as they wait to drink which really sticks in my memory from these hours spent watching the wildlife. The little pencil drawing (above) captures one such memory. This is being donated for auction to raise funds for The Butterfly Garden. The auction will be held on December 12th at The Martin's Gallery, Cheltenham.

The Natural World Exhibition - December

I am currently preparing work for an exhibition in December.
Details are:

'The Natural World Exhibition'

4th - 12th December

in aid of The Butterfly Garden charity

a project for students with learning difficulties

opening preview Friday 4th December 6.30 - 8pm

at Martin's Gallery

Imperial House, Montpellier Parade,

Cheltenham, GL50 1UA

www.martinsgallery.co.uk

Barn Owl

I don't think there is a more popular bird than the Barn Owl. I painted this study and wanted to get that feeling of late summer evening light which casts such deep blue shadows. Sometimes in the summer, when I am leaving the stables, I see a Barn Owl, quartering a field or flying in to perch on a fence post. They are so instantly recognisable because they appear so white in flight. It is easy to see why they were once believed to be the restless spirits of the dead wandering the woodland edges. It is a real treat to see these owls and to know that the farmer whose land the bird is nesting on has had the foresight and interest in wildlife to leave some areas of wild meadow and headland undisturbed where they can hunt. Maybe with such care these beautiful owls will flourish in our countryside and become a more common sight.