Nature in Miniature: May 6th – June 8th
An exhibition of exquisite 2D and 3D works celebrating wildlife and nature in miniature by members of the Royal Miniature Society. Founded in 1896 the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers promotes and champions the genre of miniature art. This show will include close to 200 exhibits.
While the traditional subject matter of portraiture continues unabated, today’s Miniaturists incorporate a very broad range of subject matter, including landscapes, still life, marine and wildlife, as well as fresh and innovative styles and subjects.
So, what is a miniature? Whilst there is no definitive answer, a miniature can be described as a fine work of art with exquisite detail in a frame size no more than 15 x 11.5cm or under 20cm for sculpture. Eizabeth Meek MBE, who was the Society’s President from 2004 – 2013, described working as a Miniaturist as the most demanding of all painting genres, ‘Concentration, stillness of mind and body and a dogged perseverance for perfection — the perfect miniature needs to be devoid of errors.’
The Society’s 130-year legacy still endures with over 90 of its members and non-members contributing to its activities.
See an RMS member at work on 24th May and see miniaturist sculptor, Philip Nelson, at work 3rd – 8th June.
Growing Together: A Photographic Exploration of Community, Heritage, and Healing Through Gardening
Growing Together explores how gardening connects people and improves well-being. 
Social prescribing provides activities that support emotional and mental health, as is evident each week, when a group gathers at an allotment in Gloucester, where the simple act of gardening becomes something powerful.
Here, people facing disabilities, mental health challenges, and social isolation find healing through nature and community bonds. Beyond growing vegetables, allotments bring people together, foster connection and support, creating a space where nature unites.
Historically, allotments have been safe havens for working-class people, providing food, purpose, and pride. These spaces hold deep cultural significance, reflecting resilience, creativity, and shared traditions.
Through portrait photography, Stefania Distante captures the heart of this community, highlighting the strength, heritage, and transformation that flourish in these gardens. This project celebrates how gardening fosters botanical, personal and collective growth.
TWASI
May 24th – June 1st (including B.Holiday Monday)
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The annual selling exhibition of the Wildlife Art Society International. Over 350 works, both 2D and 3D. The Society is a focus for the interests of wildlife artists, painters, sculptors and photographers. Demonstrations every day.
A Nod for Lady Elwes
May 30th – 31st
Lady Carolyn Elwes was the lifeblood running through the snowdrops at the renowned Colesbourne Gardens. Lady Elwes, who always liked to be called Carolyn, was a self-taught artist who kept more than 30 illustrated diaries of her activities and was an expert needleworker who made rugs, cushions, hats and dresses throughout her life and did all the illustration for the Colesbourne Gardens snowdrop brochures and cards for more than 30 years. She was a national W.I. judge of needlework and crafts and still had time to be a wonderful wife and mother. This is a rare chance to see some of her original art and crafts plus sketchbooks from the family archives.
Linocut Printmaking Inspired by Botanical Forms with Jo Biggadike
Course Suitability: Suitable for all
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
In this beginner-friendly workshop, you will learn how to create lino print designs using nature and botanical forms as your inspiration. Linocut is a fantastic way to explore printmaking without the need for expensive equipment.
During this workshop you will learn to create an effective linocut design, how to transfer your ideas onto the lino block, and safe techniques for using cutting tools. We will also explore simple printing methods that you can continue to use at home. By the end of the session, you will know how to print your linocut effectively and will take home a selection of prints along with your newly created linocut block, which can be reused in the future.
We will be using washable printing inks, but please be aware that they may still stain clothes. We recommend wearing old clothes or bringing an apron. All materials needed to create your linocut will be provided.
Please bring along any photos, sketches, dried or fresh plants that you would like to use as inspiration. Additional materials will also be available.
Materials Required:
All materials supplied within session at a cost of £10, to be paid on the day.
About the artist:
Jo Biggadike is a full-time artist and printmaker based in Cheltenham. She studied Textile Design at Chelsea School of Art and worked as a designer in furnishing fabric prints. Seeking a more handcrafted and personal approach, she now specialises in hand inked, limited edition linocut prints, inspired by her walks in the surrounding countryside. In 2020, she completed a Master’s in Illustration from the University of Gloucestershire and now sells her work internationally and regularly exhibits across the Southwest, Wales, and Midlands.
Places are on a first come first basis.
To secure your place on this course a £25 non-refundable deposit is required.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members
Royal Miniaturist Open Evening
This is a great opportunity to come and meet some of the members of the Royal Miniature Society who created the exhibits in our special Nature in Miniature exhibition and to find out more about the works on display.
Join us anytime between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.
No finger buffet at this event, but drinks available. Please book your ticket here, free to book but we are accepting donations on the night.
This is a unique selection of work assembled exclusively for this display – a celebration of the whale. It includes a few familiar exhibits and artists already represented in Nature in Art’s collection, shown in the company of pieces not previously seen at Nature in Art. In addition, we have developed some supporting activities, a talk, videos and the creation of a participatory artwork, all generously assisted by a grant from The Art Fund as part of The HERDS project.
As well as drawing our attention to the whale species, their beauty and how they can point us to hopeful messages, the exhibition will encourage visitors to think about some of the pressing threats on the marine environment and climate change which cannot be ignored. The exhibition includes both 2D and 3D works, including this bronze sculpture of a humpback whale by Nick Bibby.
Two of the artists, whose work is focused on the marine environment and are exhibiting at Nature in Art for the first time, are Tom Ashworth and Olivier Leger.
Tom is renowned for his depictions of whales. As people arrive at Nature in Art and look right into one of the downstairs galleries they will see his 3.2m wide work made of 6 separate painted panels depicting the head of a sperm whale and a squid.
Tom says of this piece ‘A phone call on the morning of 3rd March 2011 sent me scampering to the coast near to where I live at Pegwell Bay to find a large male sperm whale had beached itself. To see a cetacean out of its element leaves you feeling sadness for its demise while, at the same time, experiencing awe at being in the presence of something totally alien. This work is the fourth actual–size whale painting that I have attempted and is the largest that isn’t a site specific mural. It is based on the Pegwell stranding and inspired in no small part by Philip Hoare’s book ‘Leviathan’.
Accompanying this major piece will be a number of Tom’s smaller works depicting a variety of different whale species. Tom is passionate about whales and has a lifelong interest in cetaceans. He uses whale imagery to explore ideas about conservation, their adaptations to an environment alien to us and how we have related to them throughout our history and culture. His intention is to produce work which lives in the space between fine art and illustration, using acrylic paint or pencil.
Looking left when they arrive, visitors will see in the other gallery Olivier Leger’s 2.2 m wide ink work. Called ‘Whaley McWhaleface’, it took 6 months to create. Olivier told us about how it was created …. ‘To help tackle the scale and complexity, I made a small plan of the composition and sketched the outline onto my drawing board …. then the ideas and details evolved as I worked my way inch-by-inch across the drawing, worked with fine-tipped pen (0.03mm) and ink.
Unlike my previous drawings on paper, this piece is created on a gessoed (a hard primer) board. Whereas paper is unforgiving, this surface allowed me to smudge, sand, scratch, and render in new ways. I broke some rules and I loved it!
A mother humpback whale with her calf embark on a remarkable migration. As you look closer, a thousand tiny details reveal themselves; the ocean animals making their home in the coral reefs that have established on her colossal body. ‘Whaley McWhaleface’ provides sanctuary for the ocean life inhabiting the thriving ecosystems and vibrant habitats she carries, kept safe from humanity’s impact on the sea.
The world’s humpbacks are making a comeback. Their recovery gives hope that our oceans can be restored. ‘Whaley McWhaleface’ is a symbol of that hope. Within her sphere, ocean life thrives; turtles congregate around flourishing coral gardens, a squadron of manta rays hitch a ride on the current and hammerhead sharks school in the shallows.’
Other artists represented in the show include Sir Peter Scott, Darren Rees, Dafila Scott, Martin Hayward-Harris, Nick Bibby, Bruce Pearson, Shelley Perkins, Derek George, Tanya Russell, Beth Erland and others. Many of these works have personal stories behind them. For example, in 1983 Peter Scott spoke at the Whales Alive Conference in the USA. He described a whale- watching excursion he experienced as ‘mind blowing’. He committed his memory to canvas, and the resulting painting is included in this exhibition (left). The animal shown, that breached at least 8 times, once within fifty yards of his boat, was a well-known female humpback who researchers had named ‘Pegasus’ (the name of the painting). Also, one of Darren Rees’s exhibits was worked on while he was artist in residence at Nature in Art; Shelly Perkins’s resulted fr
om her residency with Scott Polar Research in the Antarctic, and Martin Hayward Harris’s sculpture was a maquette for the life-size blue whale at the Natural History Museum in London, that he was involved in making.
Sir Peter was a passionate campaigner for whales and some of his profound words regarding whales will be included in the exhibition. He would want people not only to enjoy the artwork included, but to engage with some of the conservation issues that the artwork highlights.
As part of the exhibition there will be an installation, made by younger visitors in preceding weeks, reflecting on human impact on whales and the marine environment, plus videos to increase our knowledge, including with Elsie Knight, aged 12, interviewing marine researchers.
To complement the exhibition, Chris Butler-Stroud of Whale and Dolphin Conservation will be giving an illustrated talk, ‘People of the Sea’, on July 10th. More details here.
Image: Left: Fin whale and dolphin by Tom Ashworth Below: ‘Take a Breath’ Humpback whales (Batik) by Beth Erlund (USA), and Humpback whale (bronze) by Nick Bibby
Otter in Graphite with Jamie Boots
NOW FULLY BOOKED
Course Suitability: Suitable for all
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
Join artist Jamie Boots for a three-day exploration into the nuanced world of graphite pencil art. This workshop delves beyond basic sketching, offering insights into the subtle techniques that breathe life into your creations. Participants will discover the art of manipulating pencil sharpness, pressure and tones to convey the fine details such as skin textures and expressive eyes.
Materials Required:
All materials supplied within session.
Places are on a first come first basis.
To secure your place on this course a £25 non-refundable deposit is required.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 for non-members.
Join us on a Saturday morning in June for a free story time in our cosy corner, learning about the environment and how we can help.
Sessions are 10:30 and 11:30, and last 15-20 minutes
14th, 21st and 28th June
Suitable for all children, but aimed at little ones
Free, no need to book
With thanks to The HERDS x Art Fund
Garden Views with Ros Wise
Course Suitability: Suitable for all
Maximum Participants: 12
Course Description:
During this course you will be taught how to paint a garden view. This can be based on a magazine type photo or ones own work. The view can be your garden or somewhere you have visited. You can include garden borders, bird tables, sheds, a quiet corner or just a few of your favourite plants.
Materials Required:
A canvas or board to paint on
Acrylic or oil paint
A selection of paintbrushes and some paper to sketch out ideas on.
About the artist:
I have been painting the natural world for decades. I am most notably known for the Cycle of Flowers which usually hangs above the staircase in Nature in Art. I paint gardens and wild spaces.
Places are on a first come first served basis.
To secure your place on this course a £25 non-refundable deposit is required.
All courses are £59 per day for members, £75 per day for non-members.