ARTFULLY ARRANGING THE WILDLIFE

How do you get a partridge to pose for a painting? What do you have to do to persuade a squirrel to strut its stuff? And how can you badger a badger to pout for the camera?

Nationally-acclaimed wildlife artist Robert Fuller will be revealing his trade secrets at a wild art exhibition this month.

From tips on how to get a robin to flutter for the shutter to persuading a kestrel to perch on a prop, the Yorkshire-based artist has enough tricks up his sleeve to have Rembrandt blushing in his grave.

Like portraitists throughout history, Mr Fuller needs his subjects to pose within an artfully arranged backdrop.

But, when you're working with wildlife, there is a little more to it than settling a nude onto a chaise lounge.

His subjects are more timid, less obliging. Not only will they not venture indoors, but most of the time they are inclined to go about their daily business without so much as a nod in his direction.

Mr Fuller paints directly from photographs and so when he wants a portrait he has to persuade his subject to ‘pose' for the camera.

A recognised authority on wildlife – he writes on wildlife matters for his local newspapers – the artist has spent a lifetime watching and recording creatures in the wild.

And he has become so intimate with British wildlife that on the whole they now come to him – even ‘posing' directly outside his kitchen window so that he can photograph them in relative comfort.

“I have planted my garden specifically to attract wildlife. I put out food for everything from wrens to kestrels,” he explains.

“When I moved to my house in Thixendale, North Yorkshire , there was just one breeding pair of tree sparrows. Now there are close to 60 different bird species in the garden.”

These include rare twite, redstart and corn bunting as well as a kestrel, a pair of tawny owls and barn owls whom Mr Fuller feeds from his bird table.

“When I am planning a picture I will put the food out on a prop, say a twisted branch, which I know will look good in the eventual painting,” he says.

Other tips include: slipping a net full of fish into a stream to see kingfishers diving and drilling holes into a branch and then in popping peanuts for woodpeckers to feast on.

But it can take years to persuade a subject to pose on a prop. The owls, now nightly visitors to his bird table, took two years to trust the food supply Mr Fuller was offering.

Mr Fuller will be baring all at his exhibition at The Robert Fuller Gallery, Fotherdale Farm, Thixendale, North Yorkshire . It opens on Saturday, June 13 th and runs until Sunday, June 28 th .

The exhibition of original oil paintings, bronze sculptures and limited edition prints will also feature tips on how to plant a wildlife garden and live falconry displays.

NOTES TO EDITORS.

Robert Fuller's Summer Exhibition is at The Robert Fuller Gallery, Fotherdale Farm, Thixendale, North Yorkshire (01759 368355 www.robertefuller.com) and runs from June 13 th -28 th . It is open daily from 11am to 4.30pm .

Robert Fuller writes a monthly wildlife column for The Yorkshire Post and the Gazette & Herald. His work to protect barn owls in North Yorkshire has also featured on BBC's Look North.

A wildlife artist of international repute, his work is favoured at home by, among others, the RSPB and the National Trust.

Keep up to date with Robert's wildlife antics on www.robertefuller.blogspot.com

For more information or to arrange an interview with the artist please contact: Lara Lambert 01759 368355/lambert.lara@yahoo.co.uk