- Above: 2026 Overall Winner. Paul Hobson: A toad swims across its woodland pond
- Felix Bellion: Through the Lavender
- Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Ben Lucas: Feathery Pillow
British Wildlife Photography Awards
The British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA) is a revered showcase of nature photography in Britain and a crucial reminder of what value our woodlands, wetlands and other ecosystems still hold.
More than 12,000 images were submitted into this year’s competition, with amateur and professional photographers competing for the prize.
“This year’s winners celebrate the wonder, diversity and character of British wildlife in truly exceptional ways,” says Will Nicholls, Director of BWPA. “From familiar species to rarely seen moments, the portfolio showcases the skill and passion of the photographers behind the lens. Together, they offer a joyful celebration of Britain’s natural world, while also reminding us why these places and species are so deserving of our care and protection.”
Photographers competed in 11 different categories in the adult competition: Animal Behaviour, Animal Portraits, Botanical Britain, Black & White, Coast & Marine, Habitat, Hidden Britain, Urban Wildlife, Wild Woods, with British Seasons and Documentary Series making up the special awards. There were also 3 age groups in the youth competition: 11 and under, 12-14 years, and 15-17 years.
With over 75 photographs on display, this is an exhibition not to be missed!
All awarded images are published by Graffeg Books in a hardback coffee-table book, which will be available from our gallery shop during the exhibition.
100 Years of Winchcombe Pottery
The world-renowned Winchcombe Pottery celebrates its centenary this year, so to honour the heritage of such an influential Gloucestershire landmark, we are showcasing a collection of early works by Michael Cardew, the Pottery’s founder, and the potters who helped to shape the works we now know and recognise.
There has been a Pottery on the current site in Greet, Winchcombe, since at least the early 1800s, along with its grade II listed updraft bottle kiln, used to wood-fire the early wares made using the abundance of red earthenware clay found on the Pottery grounds near the river Isbourne. The original Greet, or Beckett’s Pottery, which produced a range of farmhouse wares, closed during the outbreak of WW1, but in the autumn of 1926 the site was re-opened by a young Michael Cardew, a recent apprentice of studio potter Bernard Leach, at the Leach Pottery, St Ives. Winchcombe began with a team of 3, made up of Michael Cardew, Elijah Comfort, a potter from the earlier Beckett’s team, and Sid Tustin, a local 14-year-old lad who could mix clay, glazes, slips, and turn Comfort’s potter’s wheel, before becoming an apprentice and later their lead production potter.
This core team of all ages, strengths and abilities, were the ones who built the pottery we know and love today. They produced some of the pieces we have in our collection and on display, with a warmth, tactility, and energy that moves you to be in the presence of. The throwing lines, the marks from the presence of the makers hands, the history and the stories within all of these pieces is what draws us in and humbles us, and indeed why so many of us have them in our homes. Winchcombe Pottery is rich in its history of people; the potters, apprentices, visitors from all over the world, and the many lives it’s touched; whether that be as pots in people’s homes, every day, functional pots used for cooking or serving food, used in restaurants, as it was back in the 60s at Cranks vegetarian restaurant in London, or because it’s been a consistent and treasured part of Gloucestershire for the past 100 years.
Rooted in the arts and crafts movement, the pottery, situated not far from Nature in Art, originally produced earthenware items. In the early years the pots were mostly Comfort’s larger Beckett’s style pieces, with Cardew’s more refined slipware. Production gradually moved solely towards Cardew’s slipware, using the classic English slipware style seen in some of the early pieces on display, with the combing and slip decoration that became synonymous with Winchcombe Pottery from the early 30s.
Founded on Cardew’s early exposure and interest in historic earthenware slipware, along with his training with Bernard Leach, and the obvious connection between St Ives and Japanese pottery, Cardew brought a more contemporary yet affordable, functional, warm and handcraft focused pottery to Winchcombe’s local community and, eventually, to a wider market. Cardew’s passion for throwing, form and decoration is what brought Winchcombe Pottery to the fore, along with a growing team of enthusiastic potters wanting to be a part of the traditional rural Pottery.
The team changed, grew and developed over the years, with potters continuing Cardew’s vision, but also contributing their own unique styles and creative output, all of which have shaped the pottery we know today. Ray Finch joined the team and eventually took over the running of the pottery in 1946, when Cardew left to open a new pottery in Devon. This new era saw the beginnings of the, now, recognisable wood-fired stoneware range, using the same methods, original measurements, and specifications to produce today’s Winchcombe Pottery ‘standard range’.
Winchcombe Pottery, both old and new, is collected and shown all over the world. This exhibition, along with others celebrating the pottery’s achievements, aims to recognise and treasure the true importance of one of the last remaining traditional English Studio Potteries.
We sincerely thank the Edgeler Collection for loaning items for this display.
This exhibition is one a series celebrating 100 Years of Winchcombe pottery. See others at the Winchcombe Museum; the Edgeler Collection, Winchcombe; the Gordon Russell Design Museum, Broadway; Court Barn, Chipping Campden; plus events at Winchcombe Pottery itself.
There will be a private view and launch of the Nature in Art show on 28th July. Click here for details.
Whatever the Weather
One of a series focusing on our desire to highlight and encourage active creative groups celebrating the natural world.
Calligraphy, illuminated and decorated texts, artists books and lettering on boxes, pots and textiles by Gloucestershire Lettering Arts.
Meet an artist every day.
Course details:
What are oil pastels and how do you use them? We will spend the day exploring this underrated medium. In the morning we will learn techniques – from using oil pastel as resist to scratching out details, building up layers, and blending. We will achieve different interesting effects on various papers. In the afternoon, everyone will have the opportunity to create their own piece of artwork using these techniques. By the end of the day, you will have a good idea of how to complete an art work purely in oil pastels and how to use them to add extra dimension to mixed media work.
Materials and additional costs:
Supplied by tutor, £5 cash
Suitability:
Suitable for all
Spaces:
12
Price: £62 / £79
Jess Pritchard. Coloured pencil.
Wild Perspectives
One of a series focusing on our desire to highlight and encourage active creative groups celebrating the natural world.
One World Imagined is an artist collective of 7, whose drive is capturing our natural world, bringing attention to the need to look after it and working with wildlife charities and organisations to help raise funds to this aim. A diverse group, covering a wide spectrum of subject matter and mediums, all are professional artists. Between them they have been shortlisted for the DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year many times, have won numerous awards for wildlife art and completed large commissioned works. Subjects include all aspects of wildlife, British, African, South American, Asian, Arctic, on land sea and in the air. With work in pencil, watercolour, oils, acrylic and in sculpture, members of the cooperative will be there each day demonstrating and very happy to chat to visitors.
Talk to artists every day about the work on show.
Join Artist-Gardener Holly Foskett-Barnes to expand your creativity and nourish your wellbeing this summer.
In this course we’ll enjoy learning a range of watercolour painting techniques alongside mindful activities throughout the creative process. Studies will be inspired by beautiful summer shoots and wild flowers around the Nature In Art gardens and local surroundings. No previous experience is necessary, just bring yourself and an open mind! All the activities offered will be gentle and accessible for all levels and abilities.
Previous students have shared:
“A lovely afternoon with a great teacher. Holly was very patient and explained everything well. I shall definitely be doing more of her course.”
“Thank you for a very enjoyable and positive experience – I came away with new skills and the confidence to use them!”
“Holly is a great teacher – always positive and really knows her craft.”
What you can expect from the course:
● Discover playful warm-up drawing techniques
● Nourish your wellbeing with mindful activities and nature-connection
● Gain confidence in your artmaking abilities
● Learn to approach artmaking mindfully, focusing on enjoying the process over any outcomes
● Develop a range of watercolour painting techniques and artistic skills
● Enjoy exploring nature through a creative lens
● Expand your knowledge of materials and tools to support your creative practice beyond
the course
Spaces: 10
Suitable for all
Bring your own supplies or borrow for £10 cash
‘Moorhen in the Rain – Minsmere’ Watercolour c1984. Peter Partington SWLA (1941-2025). Included inn this exhibition together with an accompanying poem written by the artist.
In Sync: Words and Wonders
A selection of work, both 2D and 3D, shown with poetry both contemporary and historic. For centuries, art has inspired poets and poetry has inspired artists. Come and write some of your own words for the exhibits on show!
More details coming soon.
Gloucestershire Society of Artists
One of a series focusing on our desire to highlight and encourage active creative groups celebrating the natural world.
The 102nd annual exhibition of GSA celebrating local and regional artists and craftsmen working in a variety of styles and media.
Course details:
Immerse yourself in the vibrant shades of autumn with this two-day watercolour sketching course, perfect for all abilities. You will learn how to capture the rich hues and textures of the season through step-by-step demonstrations and practical exercises, working from both reference materials and nature itself. Explore essential watercolour techniques including washes, layering, and colour mixing to bring autumn landscapes, foliage, and textures to life. Guidance will be tailored to suit each participant, ensuring a relaxed and supportive environment. By the end of the course, you will have created your own collection of expressive autumnal sketches.
Materials and additional costs:
Supplied by tutor, £32 cash
Or email tutor for materials list
Suitability:
Beginners – advanced
Spaces:
12
Price: £124 / £158
Looking Deep into Nature
Peter Partington SWLA (1941-2025)
Painter – Printer – Sculptor Teacher – Lover Of Mother Nature
This unique exhibition is a celebration of the remarkable life and work of Peter Partington SWLA.
Peter spent his life observing and sharing our living world, bringing birds and animals to life in their habitats and seasons. He sketched in the field and created pictures, sculptures and prints with an incredible touch of the eye and hand.
Peter showed work in Nature in Art’s Inaugural 1985 exhibition, the year he was elected to the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) on whose council he served some years later. In 1989 he was Nature in Art’s very first artist in residence and one of the first to donate work to the collection. He was a valued friend and encourager of Nature in Art until his death early in 2025. He leaves a prolific output with thousands of painting’s across UK homes and many inspired people who experienced his live teaching and conversations.
This show will feature Peter’s studio, diverse works and some not previously displayed in public from private and public collections. All tell the story of a man who lived life to the full and from the heart, and inspired others to do the same. Peter’s legacy will live on, not just through his own work, but through the work of countless others who were encouraged and enabled through him.
A printmaker, painter and sculptor, it is hard to know which he enjoyed the most, and, site unseen, a parallel body of abstract art, many 3D as well as experiments in colour and form. This show includes some of these so one can see these creative steams feeding his capability across all the works. As one commentator said ‘His art was in every inch, his personality. His personality was in every inch, his art.’
Peter expressed himself through his art, which was widely published in books, print runs, ‘How to Draw’ guides, online videos and magazines, numerous local and professional exhibitions, poetry too and his ‘natural illustrator’ to bring life to other writers. His compulsion to venture into the great outdoors to watch birds (sometimes worryingly from his moving car too!) meant he could draw from memory and describe their behaviours in his art.
Small wonder that his studio groaned under the weight of thousands of works, most finished and many in states of re-work. This exhibition will sing out his enthusiasm and represent this unique English master artist, generous to a tee with his support and engagement with the public.
The show is accompanied by a new book ‘Peter Partington ‘The Artists Anthology’ by his son Jerome Partington, which includes many of the exhibition, to raise funds for a SWLA nature art school programme, Nature in Art and his conservation charities.
There also is a special launch event on September 29th.