Artists

Mark Chester F.W.A.S.

Suffolk based Mark Chester originally qualified and worked as a professional photographer until 1990, when he decided to pursue a career as a wildlife artist. Mark was elected as a Fellow of the Wildlife Art Society in 1996.

Mark’s paintings have been widely exhibited and a number of major works have featured in sales by the major London Auction Houses. Mark travels worldwide in search of reference materials for his works and although he is a painter of a diverse range of wildlife subjects, Mark is probably best known for his “big cats”.

Many wildlife charities including the R.S.P.B, The Wildlife Trusts, W.W.F and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust have benefited from the sale of Mark’s paintings. He is actively involved with the Hawk and Owl Trust, advising on conservation projects and working with landowners on the creation of suitable habitats to encourage the return of Barn Owls and other threatened birds of prey to the countryside.

Prints / Originals

Kenneth Smith

Kenneth Smith, who was largely based at Dedham in Essex, was born in the North of England and received his art training at the King Edward VII School of Art, Kings College, Durham University. He was awarded the Hatton Prize for Drawing at the age of eighteen and gained the University Diploma in Fine Art with distinction.

His interest in animal and bird painting extended over a period of thirty years and he was exhibited on a number of occasions within the United Kingdom. Overseas exhibitions have also been held at Arezzo in Italy, where he was awarded a silver cup at the 6 th Premio Internationale di Pittura e Graffica, and also in the USA at Detroit. His last overseas exhibition was in Spain at Marbella where he lived for a year.

His paintings may be found in private collections located around the world including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Austria, Italy, Spain, Germany, Norway, and Hong Kong as well as the United Kingdom. Ken Smith sadly passed away in December 2018.

Prints / Originals

Paul Apps S.A.A.

A native of the Romney Marsh in Kent, Paul has drawn and painted for as long as he can remember. As demand for his work grew, Paul became a professional artist in 1987. Since then his works have been much sought after by collectors from around the globe and Paul has held shows in Europe, Singapore and the U.S.A. Paul has lectured and tutored on wildlife art and painting techniques, and has contributed to numerous art magazines and instructional books. Whilst wildlife art remains Paul’s main focus his subject matter has diversified over time into domestic animals, equestrian studies, portraits and the female figurative nude.

Research for his wildlife work leads Paul annually to both Africa and the U.S.A. where he immerses himself in the wealth and beauty of the wildlife around him. Paul approach to painting is to combine realism with impressionism, to invoke in the viewer a sense of light and atmosphere of his subjects’ surroundings.

Paul was elected a member of the Society of Animal Artists in the U.S.A in 1999. In 2004 Paul’s painting “King of Kings” depicting a King Cheetah won the Mammal Category for Professional Artists in Wildscape Magazine’s Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition.

Christopher Bacon

Born in 1963, Christopher has lived in rural South Norfolk for all of his life. His individual and highly detailed style of painting has been developed over main years evolving through commissions to paint domestic pets into wildlife art, which is now the main focus of his activity.

Christopher is a member of the Wildlife Art Society and has exhibited at their annual exhibition in Westminster, and also at the National Exhibition of Wildlife Art in Liverpool.

Terance James Bond

Terance James Bond was one of the UK’s most accomplished, sought after and successful bird artists. His instantly recognisable works are renowned not only for the realism of the birds, painted life size, but also for their detailed and intricate backgrounds, which are faithfully painted, as seen, without any form of contemporary presentation or embellishment.

Born into a Suffolk farming family Terance James Bond was initially diverted into a career as a Design Engineer. The turning point came in 1970 when his first exhibition, held in Ipswich, sold out in twenty minutes. The rest, as is said, is history. Our good friend Terance James Bond passed away in April 2023. All of our Giclee print titles by Terance James Bond are supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity. Book Titles by Terance James Bond include-: “A Bond with Birds”, “A Life in Detail”, “Birds-An Artist’s View”, “The Terance James Bond Portfolio” and “Birds”

Chris Rose S.W.L.A.

Born in Uganda, Chris Rose, who is now based in Roxburghshire is an honours graduate in biology. Working temporarily as a illustrator for the Dorset Coast Heritage Project convinced Chris that his chosen career should be as a professional wildlife artist.

Chris is a previous Bird Illustrator of the Year and has also won the title of European Bird Artist of the Year.

Chris’s work has been used to illustrate numerous books and other publications and his original works have been widely exhibited around the world. Chris is perhaps best known as a painter of aquatic birds and of their environments. His artistic reproduction of water surfaces is considered by many to be unrivalled.

James Beaudoin

Born in 1946, James Beaudoin graduated from the College of Visual Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota. He worked as an illustrator for 10 years and has painted wildlife professionally for 25 years. In 1988 James won the Alaska Migratory Waterfowl Stamp Contest with his painting of Trumpeter Swans, although he is probably more widely known for his two series of plates on North American Owls that were produced by the Bradford Exchange. Work by James was featured in Best of Wildlife Art (Northlight Books), and he has exhibited in Birds in Art at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin. The museum retains drawings by James in its permanent collection.