Many thanks to the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours  for featuring The Arborealist exhibition at  Ace Arts Gallery in Somerton. Open until 23 December

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. 

Proud to be part of The Arborealists exhibition that opens on Saturday 18 November at Ace Arts in Somerton

Proud to be Out of Town with the Society of Graphic Fine Art exhibition at The Gallery Holt in Norfolk. All the available works can be seen here

Really pleased to be exhibiting with the Society of Graphic Fine Arts at The Gallery Holt in Norfolk as part of their 'Out of town' exhibition. All of the available works can be seen here

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 show 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

Mid October and the leaves are still green, but the boys with their big bits of kit are out and about.

There are many of us sadly stuck in the old fashioned view that the countryside needs taming, spraying, slashing and cutting, so that it looks controlled and tidy. The trouble is, the UK is classified as one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, with nearly one in six species at risk of being lost. Quite obviously the way we've been looking after our countryside is not working. Many of us can see this, but a few of the people who own or control our hedges, fields and woodlands just want to stick to how they've done things for the past 40 years. This has to change before it's too late. 

Scalping hedges this early in the autumn of the berries that birds feed on over winter is madness. Cutting the grass and nettles that are just about to be withered by frost is pointless. Calm down lads, leave the kit alone until later in the year, that way you will save the wildlife for us and some fuel for yourself.

This online auction offers 245 x A5 works by over 170 artists (I am one!) to support the Federation of British Artists at Mall Galleries. As a charity it empowers artists through a not-for-profit programme of exhibitions, events, and awards, so please bid generously. Browse the anonymous lots (and find mine!) at www.mallgalleries.org.uk

Many thanks to the lovely Dorset Magazine for giving a page over to our Let's Go Wild poster. It highlights that small, easy measures and changes to how we garden can help to reverse the 70% decline in biodiversity we are witnessing.
Sustainable Shaftesbury and @shaftesburytowncouncil 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. Get in touch here

A bit of sketching in nearby Fontmell Magna