exhibition news and a step by step

This week the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation announced details of their upcoming exhibition 'The Best of Wildlife Art' to be held in London in June. I'm thrilled to be included in this show again this year.

'Bringing together the best of the Wildlife Artist of the Year 2011 entries plus work from Three Generations of the Shepherd family and from featured guest artists (including Carl Brenders, John Banovich, Gary Hodges, Simon Gudgeon and more) in celebration of David's 80th year'.

At the Mall Galleries, London. Private view, reception and awards on Monday 6th June and open daily 7th - 11 June with free admission. See the show online together with full details: David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation: The Best of Wildlife Art.

STEP BY STEP - GORILLA PAINTING IN MINIATURE

Friend and fellow artist Melanie Phillips has recently launched a new website, I-Art, aimed at being an online resource for information, reviews, materials and including art demos. It is still early days but I know Melanie has lots of plans for the site and would welcome feedback and suggestions! I was delighted to be asked to contribute and you can now see the resulting step-by-step of my Gorilla painting, Pensive.

The Hilliard Society International Exhibition of Miniature Art opens today in Somerset. This is a wonderful show, featuring over 300 paintings and sculptures from some of the finest miniature artists in the UK and abroad and hosted in the beautiful cathedral city of Wells. If you are in the area it will be well worth a visit - entry is free and there are also daily demonstrations! I have five paintings in the show:

Update - I was also delighted to hear today that my painting 'Socorro Dove' received the Best Watercolour Award at the Seaside Gallery Miniature Art show, which continues until June 4th.

orca!

Great excitement here today as a family group of killer whales (ok, pod) appeared in front of my parents house on the other side of the island, just yards from the shore. There were two adults and a youngster, chasing seals. By the time I got there they had moved further along - I did manage to get a short piece of video before they disappeared...with apologies for the quality but it was windy and it's hand held, plus it was way too exciting to concentrate properly :)

still here!

Loooooong time since I last posted - apologies. Been very busy in the studio with larger work and away, so now trying to catch up with everything. I do have two miniatures in progress but they have been at the same stage for about a fortnight....hopefully I will have time to finish them this coming week.

Some great news waiting for me when I got home - my miniature painting of young swallows has been juried through to the final 100 of the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, which apparently had over 1000 entries this year. This means somehow working out how to get it down to Marwell for the judging...its a personal hand-in thing (and take-away-again thing) and I can't possibly be there (I really should read the entry details more carefully). If anyone else is going with their work - can you let me know if you have room for a tiny painting in your pocket?!

I also received word that I have been accepted as an associate member of the Society of Animal Artists. It was a last minute decision to try for membership as I really didn't think I stood a chance, but it's a terrific organisation and very active - plus many of my painting heroes are members - so I'm a happy bunny :)

The Society of Animal Artists is an association of animal and wildlife painters and sculptors. Founded in 1960, the Society is devoted to promoting excellence in the portrayal of the creatures sharing our planet, and to the education of the public through its informative art seminars, lectures and teaching demonstrations. Some of the finest animal artists from the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, Japan, and Australia are represented in the Society's membership.

Three miniature exhibitions have opened in the US this past week - I have work at the Seaside Art Gallery in Nags Head, NC, which runs until june 4th; The Snowgoose Gallery in Bethlehem, PA which runs until june 11th and the Parklane Gallery, Kirkland, WA which runs until June 5th. I was also delighted to learn that my turkey received an Honourable Mention in the awards at Parklane. All three galleries have the entire show to view online, but if you have the chance to get along in person to any of them you will be in for a treat (and miniatures always look better in real life!)