Behind the scenes
The idea for the Behind The Scenes studio visit came from numerous comments by curious art lovers at my public exhibitions. I realised that many people are interested in the process behind the paintings, not only the where and how but also the stories that inspired individual pieces. There usually isn't time during an exhibition to go into detail and so I decided to open my studio for private visits.
My studio is in the garden of my country cottage on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and I often paint the woods that surround from my home. You might even recognise a tree or two en route to a visit. I designed the studio myself, using environmentally friendly materials and featuring the precise window shape that I need to create the perfect light for painting. Fortunately, it also has the bonus of beautiful views across sheep-filled fields up to the sturdy tower of the 14th-century church at the top of Shaftesbury's famous Gold Hill.
I hope you'll find the views inside the studio just as uplifting and that you connect with a painting during your visit. Before a viewing a price list of the works currently on show is available. These pieces are only for sale to Behind The Scenes visitors and are not shown at public exhibitions.
A studio visit gives me the opportunity to answer your questions about the paintings, to discuss various techniques, point out subtle images and messages hidden in my paintings that are often hard to see online and explain their meaning. I have been painting about the importance of trees for the human soul as well as the planet's survival for many years and I am still constantly surprised by the fascinating facts I unearth during my research. Nature is absolutely incredible.
If you would like a look Behind The Scenes email me at
gary@cookthepainter.com
for a price list and dates
Beech slope
Foggy trees with their fallen autumn leaves. Silhouettes of moths dependant on the trees are hidden in the painting.
Acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas framed in FSC wood
Image: 61cm x 91cm
Frame: 65cm x 95cm
£2350 Contact Adrian Hill Fine Art
See the painting in progress here
Hilltop fog
My favourite stand of beech trees on a misty morning. Silhouettes of moths dependant on the trees are hidden in the painting
Acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas framed in FSC wood
Image: 61cm x 91cm
Frame: 65cm x 95cm
£2350 Contact Adrian Hill Fine Art
Evenlode oak
A bend in the Evenlode River as it passes through Daylesford. Silhouettes and names of some of the wildlife I spotted as I sketched there are hidden in the background of the painting
Acrylic, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 50cm x 68cm
Frame: 71cm x 90cm
£1995 on show at
AceArts
as part of The Arborealists exhibition or contact me
here
The young oaks
These young trees are (very) slowly getting bigger. They must be around 40 years old now and would have started growing just before we started slashing the hedges with tractor trimmers. There are no younger oaks along the lane because the industrial hedge trimmers aren’t able to spot a new sapling, which would be allowed to mature and so everything in the hedge is cut. There are 2,300 different species of bats to birds, lichen to mammals dependent in some way on oak trees
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm
Framed: 53cm x 39cm
£995 contact me here
Nearly home
From a frosty morning walk on the lane as the sun slowly warmed its way through the mist.
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£695 contact me here
High summer mist
Along the lane in Ashmore with a high summer drizzle cloaking the trees
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm
Framed: 53cm x 39cm
£995 contact me here
Trees and Pig sketching
A watercolour sketch of one of the amazing oaks in the Temperate Rainforest of
Cabilla
, on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. They have linked up with the lovely
Pig at Harlyn Bay
for some brilliant R and R weekends of forest walks, yoga, meditation, sea swimming, gorgeous food and Piggy relaxation.
Skylarks and Speckled Wood
Plein air painting on Melbury Beacon listening to Skylarks overhead and seeing Speckled Wood butterflies in the shade of the ash and beech trees
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£725 from The Gallery Holt or contact me here
Following the path
Seeing the last of the autumn leaves hanging on during a Cotswold walk. Silhouettes of moths dependant on the trees are hidden in the painting.
Acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas framed in FSC wood
Image: 91cm x 61cm
Frame: 95cm x 65cm
£2350 Contact me here
Oddington sunburst
Morning sun shining through Oddington Woods in the Cotswolds. Silhouettes of moths dependant on the trees are hidden in the painting.
Acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas framed in FSC wood
Image: 91cm x 61cm
Frame: 95cm x 65cm
£2350 Contact me here
Gathering clouds
The water meadows at Daylesford in The Cotswolds
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 28cm x 38cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£595 Contact me here
Light lines
Light on the Roman road in Eartham Wood
Oil, charcoal and graphite on canvas framed in FSC wood
Image: 61cm x 91cm
Frame: 65cm x 95cm
£2250 from
Kevis House Gallery
, Petworth
One of a series of paintings as part of The Monarch's Way exhibition at Kevis House Gallery, July 12 - 30
Ancient routes
The beech trees at the Stane Street cross roads in Eartham Wood
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£750 from
Kevis House Gallery
, Petworth
One of a series of paintings as part of The Monarch's Way exhibition at Kevis House Gallery, July 12 - 30
Last light above Bignor
Evening mist settling in on the Downs above Bignor Roman Villa
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£750 from
Kevis House Gallery
, Petworth
One of a series of paintings as part of The Monarch's Way exhibition at Kevis House Gallery, July 12 - 30
Roman route
Sun through the trees that line Stane Street
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£750 from
Kevis House Gallery
, Petworth
One of a series of paintings as part of The Monarch's Way exhibition at Kevis House Gallery, July 12 - 30
Receding light
I was lucky enough to be wandering in Petworth Park and catch this winter late afternoon sunset
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash
Artwork: 30cm x 46cm
Framed: 39cm x 53cm
£995 from Kevis House Gallery Petworth
Reflecting giant
The trunk of the enormous oak in Bourton-on-the-water is ten metres around
Oil and charcoal board, framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£595 Contact me here
Spring in the lane
Early spring in the lane above the mill. Species I saw or heard while painting are written into the background along with the detail of a brimstone butterfly that flitted by
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 34cm x 24cm
Frame: 41cm x 30cm
£725 from Adrian Hill Fine Art Holt, Norfolk
Walk up to town
A late winter view of the walk up to town. Come June and July we spot glow-worms displaying in the bank on the right during the walk back home from the pub on warm evenings. Species I saw or heard while painting are written into the background along with a glow-worm
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 34cm x 24cm
Frame: 41cm x 30cm
£725 from Adrian Hill Fine Art Holt, Norfolk
Crumbling wall
Looking across sweeping Cotswold fields
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£595 contact me here
Mist in the beech wood
Low sun and mist in the beech woods near Broadway Tower in the Cotswolds
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£725 contact me here
Oak amongst the ox-eyes
A young oak spreading its wings in a field of ex-eye daisies in The Cotswolds
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 28cm x 38cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£595 Contact me here
Along the bridleway
Following paths near the Roman Villa at Chedworth in the Cotswolds
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
£725 contact me here
Avenue of ancients
Centuries-old oak trees lining the road near Stanway House
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£725 contact me here
Summer cliffs
Part of the South West Coastal Path as it meanders around the coves near Trevone in Cornwall
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 32cm x 23cm
Framed: 40cm x 30cm
£725 contact me here
On the marshes
On the salt marshes in summer near Pagham, Chichester
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 32cm x 23cm
Framed: 40cm x 30cm
£725 contact me here
Mossy walls
On the lanes leading back to Ynyshir in Wales, down from the Cwm Einion temperate rainforest . Beautiful trees cloaked in lichen, ferns and moss, lots of moss
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 32cm x 23cm
Framed: 40cm x 30cm
£725 contact me here
Edge of the rainforest
Some of the twisted oaks in the temperate rainforest at Cabilla in Cornwall. The preserved wood is surrounded by farmland and the expanse of Bodmin Moor. Less than 1% of our temperate rainforests remain. Up to 20% of the country would have, should be covered in these lichen and fern cloaked woods
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 32cm x 23cm
Framed: 40cm x 30cm
£725 contact me here
Rainforest stream
Temperate rainforest like Horner Wood on Exmoor are very rare. Once, much of the country would have looked like this. The wood provides a diverse habitat for many species, like the Great oak beauty, depicted on the watercolour, which lives on oak trees that thrive here in this shaded valley fed by a stream working its way off the moors
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£695 from Adrian Hill Fine Art Holt, Norfolk
Gate to the smallholding
The gate into John and Carol's smallholding at the highest part of French Mill Lane
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm
Frame: 53cm x 39cm
£1150 from Adrian Hill Fine Art Holt, Norfolk
Wind on water
The Stour near Sturminster Newton
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£595 Contact me here
Dusk falls on Blandford
Winter sun going down near Blandford Bridge. "We might see an otter." I said to my friend as we walked along the Stour in the centre of Blandford Forum an hour earlier. "But probably not. You have to get here at dawn really."……Cue otter. Names of species dependent in some way on the river are written into the painting.
Watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 34cm x 24cm
Framed: 41cm x 31cm
£595 Contact me here
Spoilt
COP27 has been, gone and been forgotten. The news cycle has moved on and the headlines it made have already become a sad and distant memory. To my mind, the oil companies, lobbyists and their friends have got away with it again. They gave us warm words about slow, long-term fossil-fuel reduction targets but we're still left with a heating planet.
If the oilmen in suits were physically setting fire to our forests there would be uproar and strenuous efforts made to stop them. But they are doing it more indirectly and subtly so that we hardly notice that it's happening. But it really is. Our woodlands are burning up and so are we. The shocking thing about the oil industry's actions is that it has known for years what the outcome of burning fossil fuels would be on the planet. Sadly, profits trump that knowledge.
These are the words written around the edges of the painting:
"BP intends investing £3bn in renewables by 2025. Over the same time period it will spend £53bn on fossil fuel exploration and production. Oil and gas contribute 19,000,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the planet each year. BP's revenue in 2019 was £208bn. It aims to increase oil and gas production by 20% over the next ten years, yet intends reaching net zero emissions by 2050. The world's oil companies invest 1% of their budgets in clean energy. They're knowingly burning us alive."
Sources: clientearth.org, The Guardian, ourworldindata.org
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 35cm x 25cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£595 Contact me here
Last light
Lucky to see a great sky on an early evening walk.
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Image: 29 x 20cm
Frame: 39 x 28cm
£595 Contact me here
Reed gap
Near Wimborne where the river divides and passes White Mill Bridge. Names of species dependent in some way on the river are written into the painting.
Watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 34cm x 24cm
Framed: 41cm x 31cm
£595 Contact me here
Arching hazel
Overgrown coppiced hazel now creates a lovely shaded arch on the track up to Writh Farm
Ink and watercolour on paper, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 26cm x 15cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£450 contact me here
Morning mist
A misty morning in PIne Walk
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm Framed: 53cm x 39cm
£795 contact me here
Misty ash
A beautiful drooping ash in a lane in the Cotswolds. There are 1,058 different species of bats to mammals, lichen to fungi dependent in some way on ash. Dieback disease has now covered the whole country and we are predicted to slowly lose most of these lovely trees. Winner of the Popular Choice Award at the @brutonart annual exhibition.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Frame: 87cm x 69cm
£1995 Contact me here
Charge Nurse Riley in the temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests in the UK such as Horner Wood are globally rare and more threatened than tropical rainforest. This wood includes hazel, ash, birch and oak and is a diverse habitat. There are 2,300 different species of bats to mammals, lichen to fungi dependent in some way on oak.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 67cm x 50cm
Frame: 87cm x 73cm
£1695 contact me here
Wardour Castle No3
There are 1,058 UK species associated with ash trees, ranging from beetles to birds, lichens to mammals. All will be affected when we lose up to 90% of the UKs 70m ash trees from dieback disease. Research is ongoing into replanting these trees with ash bred with tolerance to the infection
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in waxed FSC ash
11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm
Chastelton close cut
The Chasteleton oak has been standing for 1,000 years
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm
Framed: 53cm x 39cm
£795 contact me here
Foggy morning
Walking past the old oak along Gascoigne's Lane on a foggy morning
Ink and watercolour on board
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Unframed
£350 contact me here
Sezincote (1370AD)
2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This giant tree in the grounds of Sezincote House may have started growing around 1370
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
5ft x 4ft
£3,200 contact me here
Blenheim oak (1400)
2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. There are 326 species that live solely on oak. This tree started growing around 1400 and stands in the Blenheim Palace estate, the wood with the most ancient oaks in Europe
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
5ft x 4ft
£3,200 contact me here
Antarctica. Deep water. An apology
A few of years back I was lucky enough to go to Antarctica. After (guiltily) sailing Drake's Passage, which is the 600 miles of open sea where the Pacific and Atlantic meet, this was the first view of land. After two days of seeing dark ocean and icebergs the incredible mountains and ice appearing on the horizon are other-worldly. The massive peaks and glaciers seem so monumental and give a feeling of permanence. Sadly it’s not. These are the words written into the background of the painting:
If the predictions were right this sight, my first glimpse of frozen Antarctica, has completely changed. Even by 2020 the peninsula was 5.5˚ warmer than in the 1950s. I can't imagine what it's like now. I'm sorry, but there weren't enough of us willing to adapt our lives to prevent the planet heating up as it has. We stumbled on, voting for politicians who denied what was happening. Many of them wilfully blocked any change for decades, even though the evidence of the damage we were doing was clear. Millions of us turned a blind eye to our knowing destruction of Earth so that we could lead comfortable and profligate lives, even though we knew that you, in the future, would have to pay for our selfishness.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Frame: 87cm x 69cm
£1695 Contact me here
Antarctica. Landfall. An apology
A few of years back I was lucky enough to go to Antarctica. After (guiltily) sailing Drake's Passage, which is the 600 miles of open sea where the Pacific and Atlantic meet, this was the first view of land. After two days of seeing dark ocean and icebergs the incredible mountains and ice appearing on the horizon are other-worldly. The massive peaks and glaciers seem so monumental and give a feeling of permanence. Sadly it’s not. These are the words written into the background of the painting:
If the predictions were right this sight, my first glimpse of frozen Antarctica, has completely changed. Even by 2020 the peninsula was 5.5˚ warmer than in the 1950s. I can't imagine what it's like now. I'm sorry, but there weren't enough of us willing to adapt our lives to prevent the planet heating up as it has. We stumbled on, voting for politicians who denied what was happening. Many of them wilfully blocked any change for decades, even though the evidence of the damage we were doing was clear. Millions of us turned a blind eye to our knowing destruction of Earth so that we could lead comfortable and profligate lives, even though we knew that you, in the future, would have to pay for our selfishness.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Frame: 87cm x 69cm
£1695 Contact me here
Antarctica. First glimpse. An apology
I was lucky enough to go to Antartica. After sailing for two days without seeing land this was my first sight of the continent. These are the words written into the background of the painting
If the predictions were right this sight, my first glimpse of frozen Antarctica, has completely changed. Even by 2020 the peninsula was 5.5˚ warmer than in the 1950s. I can't imagine what it's like now. I'm sorry, but there weren't enough of us willing to adapt our lives to prevent the planet heating up as it has. We stumbled on, voting for politicians who denied what was happening. Many of them wilfully blocked any change for decades, even though the evidence of the damage we were doing was clear. Millions of us turned a blind eye to our knowing destruction of Earth so that we could lead comfortable and profligate lives, even though we knew that you, in the future, would have to pay for our selfishness.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Frame: 87cm x 69cm
£1695 Contact me here
Antarctica: freezing but thawing
A view of the becalmed bay near Port Lockroy, inspired by my trip to the frozen Antarctic Peninsula in 2017. A page from my sketchbook while I was there is included, as well as species I saw are written into the background of the painting. To me it felt so cold when I was sketching. I wore two pairs of gloves and took one off to scribble in fingerless cycling gloves, but could only manage a couple of minutes before I had to put both layers back on because of the cold. Sadly, and shamefully, the Peninsula, like its northern cousin the Arctic, is warming at a faster rate than the rest of our heating planet. It is 6 degrees warmer now compared to 1950.
Acrylic, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 50cm x 68cm
Frame: 71cm x 90cm
£1695 contact me
here
Antarctica: frozen but melting
A view of Wilhelmina Bay, inspired by my trip to the frozen Antarctic Peninsula in 2017. A page from my sketchbook while I was there is included, as well as species I saw are written into the background of the painting. To me it felt so cold when I was sketching. I wore two pairs of gloves and took one off to scribble in fingerless cycling gloves, but could only manage a couple of minutes before I had to put both layers back on because of the cold. Sadly, and shamefully, the Peninsula, like its northern cousin the Arctic, is warming at a faster rate than the rest of our heating planet. It is 6C warmer now compared to 1950.
Acrylic, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 50cm x 68cm
Frame: 71cm x 90cm
£1695 contact me
here
Antarctica: cold but warm
Awarded The Frank Herring Easel Prize at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 211th Exhibition for an outstanding work
A view of the becalmed bay near Port Lockroy, inspired by my trip to the frozen Antarctic Peninsula in 2017. A page from my sketchbook while I was there is included, as well as species I saw are written into the background of the painting. To me it felt so cold when I was sketching. I wore two pairs of gloves and took one off to scribble in fingerless cycling gloves, but could only manage a couple of minutes before I had to put both layers back on because of the cold. Sadly, and shamefully, the Peninsula, like its northern cousin the Arctic, is warming at a faster rate than the rest of our heating planet. It is 6degrees warmer now compared to 1950.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 50cm x 68cm
Frame: 71cm x 90cm
£1995 contact me
here
Antarctica. Waiting. An apology
BEST IN SHOW
At Society of Graphic Fine Art Centenary exhibition at Mall Galleries, London 5 -10 July
I was lucky enough to go to Antartica. This view shows moulting juvenile penguins waiting for their parents to return and feed them just-caught krill. In recent years penguins that wouldn't have been suited to breeding on the Antarctica Peninsula are now nesting in large numbers due to warming temperatures.
The year before I visited more than a third of penguin chicks on the islands died of starvation. In the same area trawlers were ‘suction' harvesting krill, a tiny crustacean, for our increasing demand for omega 3 food supplements and fish farm food. Scientists believe that with less krill in the area, less food was available to the birds. Fewer surviving penguins means less prey for seals and orca.
These are the words written into the background of the painting:
If the predictions were right this sight, my first glimpse of frozen Antarctica, has completely changed. Even by 2020 the peninsula was 5.5˚ warmer than in the 1950s. I can't imagine what it's like now. I'm sorry, but there weren't enough of us willing to adapt our lives to prevent the planet heating up as it has. We stumbled on, voting for politicians who denied what was happening. Many of them wilfully blocked any change for decades, even though the evidence of the damage we were doing was clear. Millions of us turned a blind eye to our knowing destruction of Earth so that we could lead comfortable and profligate lives, even though we knew that you, in the future, would have to pay for our selfishness.
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood
Image: 69cm x 93cm
Frame: 90cm x 120m
£2250 Contact me here
Slow burn
If the oilmen in suits were physically setting fire to our forests there would be uproar and strenuous efforts made to stop them. But they are doing it more indirectly and subtly so that we hardly notice that it's happening. But it really is. Our woodlands are burning up and so are we. The shocking thing about the oil industry's actions is that it has known for years what the outcome of burning fossil fuels would be on the planet. Sadly, profits trump that knowledge.
These are the words written around the edges of the painting:
"In 2020 Shell had sales of £232bn. In the same year it aimed to spend £2bn on low carbon businesses. Its annual marketing budget for 2020 was £2bn. Oil and gas contribute 19,000,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the planet each year. Shell spent £1.5bn on low carbon generation from 2016-2020. At the same time it invested £90bn in fossil fuels. Shell is considered to be a climate leader in the industry. Oil companies invest 1% of their budget in clean energy. They are knowingly burning us alive."
Sources: clientearth.org, The Guardian, ourworldindata.org
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Unframed
£995 contact me here
Warm words
If the oilmen in suits were physically setting fire to our forests there would be uproar and strenuous efforts made to stop them. But they are doing it more indirectly and subtly so that we hardly notice that it's happening. But it really is. Our woodlands are burning up and so are we. The shocking thing about the oil industry's actions is that it has known for years what the outcome of burning fossil fuels would be on the planet. Sadly, profits trump that knowledge.
These are the words written around the edges of the painting:
"In 2020 Shell had sales of £232bn. In the same year it aimed to spend £2bn on low carbon businesses. Its annual marketing budget for 2020 was £2bn. Oil and gas contribute 19,000,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the planet each year. Shell spent £1.5bn on low carbon generation from 2016-2020. At the same time it invested £90bn in fossil fuels. Shell is considered to be a climate leader in the industry. Oil companies invest 1% of their budget in clean energy. They are knowingly burning us alive."
Sources: clientearth.org, The Guardian, ourworldindata.org
Ink and watercolour on board
Artwork: 35cm x 25cm
Unframed
£350 contact me
here
Heated words
If the oilmen in suits were physically setting fire to our forests there would be uproar and strenuous efforts made to stop them. But they are doing it more indirectly and subtly so that we hardly notice that it's happening. But it really is. Our woodlands are burning up and so are we. The shocking thing about the oil industry's actions is that it has known for years what the outcome of burning fossil fuels would be on the planet. Sadly, profits trump that knowledge.
These are the words written around the edges of the painting:
"ExxonMobil had a turnover of £1,069bn between 2015-2000. During the same time it spent 0.01% of that on low-carbon investments and developments. Oil and gas contribute 19,000,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the planet each year. ExxonMobil is the self-proclaimed leader in carbon capture. It stores 9m tonnes of CO2 per year. That is 2% of its annual emissions of 730m tonnes in 2019. The world's oil companies invest 1% of their budgets in clean energy. They're knowingly burning us alive."
Sources: clientearth.org, The Guardian, ourworldindata.org
Ink and watercolour on board
Artwork: 35cm x 25cm
Unframed
£350 contact me here
Earthwork edge
There is evidence that people lived on Hambledon Hill 5,000 years ago, 1,000 years before Stonehenge was built. The worlwide human population in 3,000BC was around 7m. In 1964 it was 3,250m, today there are 8,000m of us
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood
11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed
£595 Contact me here
Shardow
There are 8.4m trees in London. I find this an incredible thought, especially when you view the city from high up. Besides looking nice and all the other benefits of trees, that equates to 2.4m tonnes of carbon safely stored away. In 2015 I was lucky to have stayed in the Shangri-La Hotel on the 45th floor of The Shard and captured this scene. From that viewpoint I could see only around ten of the 8.4m.
Thinking back to 2015 gives me painful memories as I struggled to even get to the hotel. Two months before I slipped a disc which made walking or standing excruciating after a couple of minutes. For nine months I tried a succession of exercises and physiotherapies to cure the problem. Sadly none worked and I eventually had an operation that thankfully had me standing pain free instantly. Looking back makes me very grateful
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC ash
Artwork: 30cm x 46cm
Framed: 39cm x 53cm
£795 Contact me here
Jürgen's view?
I stayed in a hotel Liverpool FC use the night before they play a home game. The whole team, including the manager Jurgen Klopp prepare for the match and overnight there. I was lucky enough to get an upgrade to a lovely room on the top floor. I wonder if this is the view Jurgen usually has? Looking out, I could only spot a couple of trees. The centre of Liverpool had 1% tree cover in 2012. It's aiming now to get to 10%
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£595 Contact me here
8.4m to 1
After sketching the Barn Elms Plane tree I stayed at a hotel in London (serendipitously called the Treehouse in Marylebone). The restaurant is on the 15th floor with 360 degree views. Quite late in the evening, while looking over the London rooftops, I noticed one Plane tree silhouetted in the streetlights. From that particular view it was the only tree I could see. An amazing contrast to the other London tree I’d seen earlier in the day. There are incredibly 8.4m trees in the capital city
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
£595 Contact me here
Off the hill
There is evidence that people lived on Hambledon Hill 5,000 years ago, 1,000 years before Stonehenge was built. The worlwide human population in 3,000BC was around 7m. In 1964 it was 3,250m, today there are 7,710m of us
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on paper, framed in FSC wood
11in x 8in / 28cm x 20cm 15in x 9in / 39cm x 29cm framed
£595 Contact me here
Bourton on the water oak No2
2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This giant tree is 10m around
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Unframed
£495 Contact me here
Frozen fields
Snow in the fields at Asmore, the highest village in Dorset
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board
44cm x 29cm artwork
Unframed
£395 Contact me here
Drifting by
Near Marnhull beneath the River Stour looking up to ivy-clad trees
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Unframed
£995 contact me here
Look up to the trees
Looking up from beneath the Sturkel, one of the 48 tributaries of the River Stour
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper
Image: 68cm x 50cm
Unframed
£995 contact me
here
West Melbury oak (1856)
2,300 species, from birds to beetles, fungi to lichens are dependent on oak trees. This acorn was sown around 1856
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on paper framed in FSC wood:
88cm x 73cm
£1295 Contact me here
Beech ravine +SOLD+
A beautiful beech ravine near Hepworth in Yorkshire. We drove up from Dorset to see our friend Sue who lives there. To stretch our legs and give Laika a walk we wandered across the fields, past the football club and down into this shaded valley with the trees gathering around a stream working its way off the moors
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
SOLD from The Art Stable
Mist in the back field +SOLD+
An early morning walk in the fields with sun burning through the fog
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
SOLD from The Gallery Holt or contact me here
Under the chattering ravens +SOLD+
In the shade of the holloway on French Mill Lane. Ravens cawing and chattering to each other from their nest above me provided the backdrop while I painted. I only had to move my easel three times when sat-nav-following delivery vans came down the quiet lane
Ink, charcoal and watercolour on board framed in FSC wood
Image: 24cm x 34cm
Frame: 30cm x 41cm
SOLD from The Gallery Holt or contact me here
Towering beech +SOLD+
A beautiful beech ravine near Hepworth in Yorkshire. We drove up from Dorset to see our friend Sue who lives there. To stretch our legs and give Laika a walk we wandered across the fields, past the football club and down into this shaded valley with the trees gathering around a stream working its way off the moors. Beech have shallow roots that suffer in drought conditions. The London dowd moth in the corner of the watercolour is one of the many species dependent on beech trees.
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
SOLD from Adrian Hill Fine Art Holt, Norfolk
Beech stream +SOLD+
A beautiful beech ravine near Hepworth in Yorkshire. We drove up from Dorset to see our friend Sue who lives there. To stretch our legs and give Laika a walk we wandered across the fields, past the football club and down into this shaded valley with the trees gathering around a stream working its way off the moors
Ink and watercolour on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 30cm x 20cm
Framed: 39cm x 29cm
SOLD
The shallows +SOLD+
Near Sturminster Mill where the river divides. This half meanders through shallows and overhanging willows. Silhouettes and names of species dependent on the river are hidden in the painting
Ink, watercolour and charcoal on board, framed in FSC wood
Artwork: 44cm x 29cm
Framed: 53cm x 39cm
SOLD
Shaftesbury sketches
Scribbles of the local patch from the sketchbook
Framed in FSC ash
Artwork: 20x13cm
Framed: 25x20cm
£135 from Folde Dorset
Let's Go Wild
Sustainable Shaftesbury has produced a free illustrated poster to encourage the town's residents to welcome wildlife into their gardens.
Advice about simple steps to attract hedgehogs, insects, birds and butterflies to their backyards is also available as an interactive graphic . The project has been put together by the council-backed Sustainable Shaftesbury committee and written by Angela King and Sue Clifford who, along with Roger Deakin co-founded Common Ground, the creators of Apple Day. Ex-Sunday Times Graphics Editor Gary Cook produced the illustrations to highlight that small, easy measures and changes to how we garden can help to reverse the 70% decline in biodiversity we are witnessing.
The group is offering the artwork free to other councils to produce their own versions of the poster and help sow the seed of relaxed gardening and the positive impact it can make on wildlife populations, further afield.
Over three quarters of the UK population are concerned about climate change and biodiversity loss and this poster, which features the town's star attraction Gold Hill, offers a range of solutions to combat it, many effort-free. For example, “Enjoy the quiet of No Mow May! Park the lawnmower for a while: welcome the wild flowers and listen to the grasshoppers. Check for slow-worms, hedgehogs, frogs and other creatures before strimming or mowing." Or "Let some of your garden go wild. Allow daisies, buttercups, forget-me-nots, clovers and mixed grasses to grow. Dandelion flowers are an important early food source for bumblebees and butterflies." Other advice includes "Plant fruit and nut trees, flowering shrubs with berries. Share a tenth (tithe) of your produce from apples to red currants with creatures great and small."
An interactive version can be seen here . The poster and leaflets are available free from Shaftesbury Town Council and throughout Shaftesbury. Contact Brie Logan, Town Clerk at Shaftesbury Town Council for free use of the illustrations. More information and interviews with Sue Clifford at sue.mclifford@btinternet.com
