8 - 23 June 2019

Fen Ditton Gallery is excited to announce its next exhibition celebrating the importance of birds.

Birds form an integral part of the landscape and soundscape of our daily lives. Their familiar sounds and comings and goings bring pleasure and interest to people all around the world, and though they often hover at the edge or our vision, birds provide the opportunity to celebrate our deep connections with all of nature.  

The exhibition is an opportunity to view a range of works inspired by encounters with birds by talented artists who study their habits, form and character.

For time immemorial, birds have been used as environmental indicators.  They play a vital role in monitoring the health of our planet, and BirdLife International based in the new David Attenborough Building in Cambridge, maintains the Red List for birds on behalf of IUCN, and works at the forefront of bird conservation research, policy and practice.  The BirdLife Partnership is active in over 120 countries. 

One of BirdLife’s active global programmes is called ‘Forests of Hope’ and focuses on the challenges of sustaining forests which are key habitats for may threatened bird species, as well as other fauna and flora.  Forests are also important to human communities, providing a wide range of livelihoods.

In support of Forests of Hope, the Fen Ditton Gallery will donate a percentage of exhibition sales to the international work undertaken by BirdLife.

Exhibiting artists:
Norman Ackroyd, Lotte Attwood, Geoffrey Cory-Wright, John Fanshawe, Jill Fanshawe Kato, Rebecca Jewell, Roger Law, Hannah McAndrew, Amanda MacPhail, Nik Pollard, Belinda Rushjansen, Nina Sage, Lynne Strover

An exhibition of artists’ perspectives on trees in celebration of the work of Oliver Rackham OBE (1939-2015) and the Woodland Trust.

21 September - 28 October 2018

"Oliver’s work has had a profound influence on our understanding of trees and woodland as places where history and ecology, human influence and natural forces have combined and interacted to create complex and continuously fascinating places." Mike Townsend, Principal Advisor, Woodland Trust

Twelve artists, one subject -  trees and woodland : an exhibition devised to celebrate the life and legacy of  Oliver Rackham and to support the work of the Woodland Trust.  All works are for sale and a percentage of sale proceeds will be given to the Woodland Trust as a contribution to work they continue in Oliver’s memory.

Oliver Rackham was the leading historian and ecologist of British woods as well as a fellow and master at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He spent many years researching the history and ecology of ancient woods and the remarkable adaptability of trees, which allowed him to write with extensive knowledge and insight, bringing the history of woods to life. In 1986, he decided to write a number of distinct volumes on the ancient woods of Britain. Although only one was published, he worked on several others including The Woods of the Helford River, Cornwall. Sadly it was not quite completed and remained unpublished at the time of his death in 2015. The Woodland Trust has been working closely with Corpus Christi College to finish and publish the book, so that Oliver’s outstanding knowledge can be passed on to future generations. 

Exhibited works are drawn from different disciplines and demonstrate distinct visual responses to trees and woodland: all however are conceived by artists for whom this subject has been a central concern. David Nash’s massed charcoal rendering of the ‘giz’ of old lime trees; a pine cone minutely observed in pencil and then transformed into chased silver by Michael Lloyd; Paul Hart’s acutely observed photographs of trees edging the industrial farmlands of the fens; an oak log elegantly realized as a dramatic black seat by Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley. Printmaking, drawing, engraving and tapestry are all explored as the means to capturing the experience of trees and their continuing presence in our twenty-first century lives.  

All works will be for sale and a percentage of sale proceeds will be given to the Woodland Trust to support the work they continue in Oliver’s memory.  

Exhibitors:

Norman Ackroyd – Etchings and Aquatint; Malcolm Appleby – Engraved Silver; Lotte Attwood – Black and White Photography; Wilhlemina Barns-Graham (1912-2004) – Drawing; Sara Brennan  - Drawings and Tapestry; Buckmaster and French – Etchings;  Paul Hart – Black and White Photography; Michael Lloyd – Drawings and Chased and Handraised Silver Vessels;  Garry Fabian-Miller – Photograms; David Nash – Drawings; Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley – Furniture/Wood ; James Ravilious (1939-1999) – Photographs of the work of Jim Partridge in woodland in the late 1980s.