Gary Woodley

I was born in Ducklington, Oxfordshire and from childhood was interested in art and wildlife. In 1972 I joined Boehm of Malvern Ceramic Studios in Worcestershire, where I decorated their porcelain studies of animals and birds. After training, I became a freelance artist and had the opportunity to exhibit in conjunction with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Later I also became a lay member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, where I’ve continued to show work over the years, and I also moved into the world of book illustration.

As a little boy, my mother sat with me as I drew and painted. I also often accompanied my father, who was a countryman with a knowledge of wildlife. Looking back l can see my childhood influences were on my doorstep.

I work in gouache, an opaque watercolour containing natural pigments. I started working on handmade paper about twenty years ago. I chose this medium for its organic qualities and the shapes l saw within the paper that sometimes echoed the environment featuring in my paintings.