At work on Bass Rock, 2016
Artist Profile & CV |
For the past 45 years I have worked as an artist completing private commissions from individuals, museums and institutions. By invitation I have participated in international art events and exhibitions in USA, France, Holland, Spain, Poland, Ecuador and Peru; and in the UK I have contributed work to a number of group exhibitions and undertaken a range of solo commercial gallery shows. Early on my work was largely as a freelance illustrator on a wide range of natural history books, magazines and journals, including writing and illustrating An Artist on Migration (1991). One chapter of the book focused on the seasonal floods in the Sahel region of West Africa and that part of the migration story was subsequently filmed and shown on BBC2 television in a programme called Beyond Timbuctu which I presented. Other illustration work was for the Rare Mammals of the World and the Gem Guide to Zoo Animals books published by Harper Collins and throughout that time I continued to exhibit larger fine art works when the opportunities arose. As well as painting and printmaking, early projects also involved filming in Antarctica as a director-cameraman on an idea developed in collaboration with friend and colleague, Peter Prince. We made a wildlife documentary film called The Private Life of the Fur Seal which was subsequently shown on BBC1 television. A second programme, The 150 Million Tonne Shrimp which told a far more complex Antarctic story, was shown on BBC2 television two years later as part of the World About Series. Finally I was commissioned by Channel 4 Television to write and present the six part Birdscape series about a range of British landscapes and the lives of some of the birds, and some of the people associated with them; the series aired in 1991. Throughout the time working on film projects I continued to exhibit fine art works when the opportunities arose, My studio is now filled with a huge number of drawings, paintings, notebooks, and sketches reflecting visits over many years to the Arctic and Antarctica, Africa, many countries and regions of Europe, the Caribbean, and North and South America. There are still opportunities to travel and find new ideas, see new species and experience different landscapes. But over the last few years the obsessive urge to head off into the field at every opportunity has transferred itself into an equally strong desire to work in the studio, searching instead through the accumulated volumes of creative debris for fresh starting points.
2023 (February) As panelist and speaker invited to contribute to the London Art Campus event The Asset Value of Social Justice in Art 2022 Moving house after 11 years, and packing entire studio contents away into storage for inderterminate period, occupies almost entire year. Brief periods in Norfolk and Northumberland undertaking fieldwork. Design and commission of a new studio (awaiting planning permission) 2021 Retreat from visiting wild places and the outside world because of covid and lockdown and focus instead on being in studio. When lockdowns end travel to Iceland as ornithologist and artist-in-residence with Crystal Expedition Cruises for two circumnavigations of the island. 2020 Invited to join Crystal Expedition Cruises as ornithologist and artist for two trips in 2021 to the Southern Ocean and New Zeland subantarctic islands (but cancelled because of coronavirus). 2019 Commissioned by Bloomsbury Publishing to produce jacket artwork for forthcoming Birds of UK Overseas Territories 2018 (March) Publication of Far From Land, a book about seabirds by Michael Brooke with illustrations by Bruce Pearson (June / July) Artist in Residence with One Ocean Expeditions on a visit to Svalbard 2017 (March) Invited by Artists for Nature Foundation to contribute to a project in the Middle East - Bringing the Dead Sea Back to Life (March) Visit to USA and the 'Ding' Darling Wildlife Refuge on the Florida coast (October - November) Travel with One Ocean Expeditions for two trips to Antarctica, South Georgia and Falkland Islands, the first voyage as artist in residence, and the second as naturalist. 2016 (May & June) Working with specialist travel company Wildwings invited to join the team as 'artist in residence' on board MV Ortelius for the North Atlantic Odyssey trip (July) guest tutor on the John Busby Seabird Drawing Course based on Berwickshire coast I will be joining Greg Poole, Darren Woodhead, Kitty Jones and John Threlfall working alongside those wonderful artists - as well as with the course participants (November) Join One Ocean Expeditions on the Akademik Ioffe as 'artist in residence' and naturalist for a month in Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia (Jan - April) Begin work on preparing over 40 B&W illustrations of seabirds for forthcoming Princeton University Press publication 2015 (January) working with FBA to complete a second Pensions Insurance Corporation commission (March) Travel to USA and visit the forests of Saguaro cactii and the Grand Canyon in Arizona (April / May) At the invitation of SPNI (Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel) travel to Negev Desert to look at the conservation issues facing many endangered species of birds (November) Travel to Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula with One Ocean Expeditions as 'Artist in Residence' aboard the Akademik Ioffe 2014 (November) Travel to Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula with One Ocean Expeditions as 'Artist in Residence' aboard the Akademik Ioffe (October) At the invitation of Bermuda Audubon Society and Mr. George Peterich - a keen BirdLife supporter - travel to Bermuda to visit Nonsuch Island and see the project that is focused on conserving the very rare Bermuda Peterel (Pterodroma cahow) (July) Publication and launch of A Sparrowhawk's Lament (January) One of four artists joining a joint BTO / SWLA project to Senegal to develop portfolios of work work that convey a sense of the landscapes, challenges, issues and opportunities faced by many millions of migrant birds as they ebb and flow with the seasons moving on a vast scale between European breeding grounds and wintering areas throughout Africa. (January) Finally complete 100+ black & white illustrations for the forthcoming book The Sparrowhawk’s Lament to be published later in the year by Princeton University Press 2013 (November / December) Artist in residence for One Ocean expeditions and Wildwings on voyage to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula (Sept / Oct) Visit to Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand to pursue albatross studies and continued development of the Troubled Waters project After the success of the Troubled Waters book launch and exhibition, developing new work on various UK themes, and preparing illustrations for forthcoming book The Sparrowhawk’s Lament (author David Cobham) 2012 Work on Troubled Waters project continuing, with focus on delivery of text and artwork by June, and exhibition opening in London confirmed for November 26th 2011 (Jan - May) Move studio (after 20+ years) to St Barnabas Press in Cambridge (October) Voyage on board long-liner out of South Africa as part of continuing Troubled Waters project 2010 Consultant to BirdLife International supported by grant funding from Wallace Foundation to visit Albatross Task Force in South Africa 2009 (October - November) Expedition sailing from Falkland Islands to South Georgia in pursuit of Troubled Waters project (March) Participation in Artists for Nature (ANF) project in Hula Valley, Israel 2008 Exhibition (May), Recent Work Pinkfoot Gallery, Norfolk 2007 Exhibition, Recent Work, Westcliffe Gallery, Sheringham, Norfolk, UK 2006 Exhibition An Tallag Dearg Gallery, Isle of Skye 2005 Commissioned to complete twelve paintings for Sultan of Oman 2004 External Examiner, Royal College of Art (Communication Art and Design) 2003 Invitation to participate in art project undertaken in the Tumbesian region on the borders of Ecuador and Peru; included as of a group of artists invited from 6 countries by Artists for Nature Foundation (ANF) Visiting lecturer, Royal College of Art (Communication Art and Design) In a New Light, solo exhibition, Wildlife Art Gallery, Lavenham, Suffolk Publication of In a New Light, a personal book looking at the contemporary and earlier work as an artist Selected for inclusion in Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, USA 2002 Wildlife and the Artist, group exhibition, Wildlife Art Gallery, Lavenham, Suffolk 2001 Mural commission for Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) visitor centres at Derwent Ings and Pulborough Brooks nature reserves 2000 Mural Commission for entrance foyer at RSPB national headquarters 1999 Mural commission for London Aquarium 1998 Invitation to return to Parc Les Écrins in the Alpine region of France to contribute to an ongoing art Project Solo exhibition at The Peter Hedley Gallery, Dorset Invitation to join Artists for Nature project in Alaska’s Copper River region and touring exhibition in USA 1997 Publication of Carnets du Littoral, La Camargue (author and illustrator) 1996 Commissioned by Conservatoire du Littoral and publishers Gallimard in France to portray the landscape and wildlife of the Camargue region Invitation from Artists for Nature Foundation to join international group of artists in Extremadura region of Spain Subsequently, work included in exhibition tour through Europe Invitation from Parc Les Écrins, France to contribute to an art project in the National Park 1995 Exhibition, Wildlife Art Gallery, Lavenham, Suffolk, UK 1994 Writer and presenter of Birdscape, a series of six half-hour programmes for Channel 4 television Elected President of the Society of Wildlife Artists Selected for inclusion in Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, USA 1992 Beyond Timbuktu – writer and presenter of the BBC2 World About Us film about the people and wildlife dependant on the seasonal floods of the Sahel region of West Africa Selected for inclusion in Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, USA 1991 Publication of An Artist on Migration (author and illustrator) - a personal interpretation of the annual journeys make flowing with the seasons between Europe and Africa 1989 Solo exhibition An Artist on Migration at The Jane Neville Gallery, Aslockton, Nottinghamshire 1987 Extensive journey through West Africa and Sahara researching and preparing for a project about bird migration 1979 Publication of Rare Mammals of the World (illustrator) - a guide with text and maps to over 100 endangered species Exhibition at Natural History Museum, London of all illustration work from Rare Mammals of the World 1978 Elected member of Society of Wildlife Artists 1977 An Artist in Antarctica, solo exhibition at the Scott Polar Institute, Cambridge 1976 Life, Light and Landscape, Assembly Rooms, Norwich - first solo exhibition 1975 – 2020 Contributions to Society of Wildlife Artists annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London 1975 – 1978 Three austral summer visits to Bird Island, South Georgia and Antarctic Peninsula. First visit as field assistant, and subsequent visits as freelance artist and film-maker 1973 – 1975 Film Production Assistant, Film Unit of Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) 1973 Graduate from City of Leicester Polytechnic (BA in Fine Art) 1969-70 Art Foundation course Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design
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