Most often, it was the large canvasses, full of vibrant colour and texture, that I admired most. When I visited art galleries and museums it wasn't the delicate watercolours that stayed with me. I have always looked outside the wildlife art genre and admired the great painters at the beginning of the twentieth century, notably Sargent, Monet and Klimt. It was at this point I realised that there was much to learn and three decades on I'm still learning.Īfter Bird Impressions I started working on larger paintings in opaque media as a response to different influences. After university I spent one academic year teaching maths during which time the interest shown in my work prompted me to seriously consider painting and illustrating full-time. However, my formal art training stopped at A level and it was only after I completed my degree course in Maths that I realised my real interest lay in painting and natural history. It seemed inevitable then, that my painting and bird watching interests should develop hand in hand. Even while at primary school my walls were covered with crude copies of Baloo the Bear and Bagheera the Panther. I had always drawn and painted as a child and my doodles predictably had a wildlife theme. There was to be no turning back - I was hooked. What was happening to me? I knew something was odd when I missed the FA Cup Final for the first time, to go to watch Honey Buzzards displaying over a New Forest enclosure. The prime south coast localities between Portland Bill and Pagham harbour were all within easy reach and my tick list grew and grew. With our guide and mentor, and his Morris Traveller we set off eager to expand our knowledge on matters ornithological. Was he telling fibs or was he mistaken? These birds were rare and hardly ever seen - it said so in my Observer Book of Birds.īy another twist of fate we found we could monopolise George's attention as bird watching was not the done thing amongst Andover's youth, and the YOC attendance had dwindled to three. We listened with mouths open as he'd tell us of Hobbies over his house and birds we'd never heard of, let alone dreamed of, at the local gravel pits. My friend and I decided to join the local YOC group that, by chance, was led by an energetic middle-aged rock-n-roller called George. What were those birds creeping around? It was no good I had to find out more. My bird watching started modestly with walks in the local woods stalking Jays, Woodpeckers and little brown things.
One moment in time darren tv#
I couldn't watch enough TV programmes on wildlife and wounded or abandoned birds turned up in the kitchen on more than a couple of occasions. Looking back, I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by nature. Sometimes though, they can seem two different worlds. The spectacles I witness are the raw materials for many paintings, from Texan hawks chasing ten million bats, to polar bears asleep on the tundra. You see, leading wildlife tours is a delight, and brings together my two passions of nature and art. The trouble is, I so enjoy the variety of pursuits that, at this moment, are part of my life. Then there's that other old chestnut 'Jack of all trades.' Yes, I know how it ends, and I'm constantly aware that my divisions of labour can leave me never mastering and finishing all those paintings that chase around my head. At this moment, perhaps wildlife artist, tour leader and occasional writer would fit.
Artist and occasional tour leader looked like becoming tour leader and occasional artist for a while. Just what do I do? My job description has expanded somewhat over the years. No, there is something more fundamental at stake and it concerns a question that I've been asked several times now 'so when are you going to get a proper job then?' You see, compared to doctors, farmers, tornado pilots and ninety per cent of the working population I guess I don't qualify for a proper job. Then there's Grasshopper and Savi's Warbler that always keeps me reeling. Long-billed Dowitcher and Short-billed Dowitcher proves tricky every time. Not for the first time I face a crisis of identity.
0 kommentar(er)
