Robert E Fuller in his own words

On wildlife:

“I would always say that wildlife, for me, will always come first, art second.”

“The chief aim in my paintings and sculptures is to reflect the beauty of the natural world.”

“I am especially interested in portraying the different behavioural rites of different species and capturing their movement and interaction with other animals.”

“I have a really affinity for wildlife, somehow I seem to know instinctively where to find birds and animals….

On influences:

“My early influences in the art world were Sir Charles Tunnicliffe, pioneer of wildlife painting, Keith Brockie and Raymond Harris Ching.”

“Nowadays, I prefer looking at the animals or birds themselves and making up my own style rather than looking back at other artists' work.”

On growing up:

“My fascination with wildlife started at a very early age and I would always say that wildlife, for me, will always come first, art second.”

“My earliest memories are of lying in the grass by the garden pond looking underneath the water watching greater diving beetle, mayfly larvae, water fleas & water boatmen.”

“I used to collect insects as a child and kept a Tupperware box of caterpillars on the kitchen counter to watch them metamorphose.

“I also had a great selection of skulls which I hung out to dry from trees as well as bit of wings which I would then draw.”

“I decided to become a wildlife artist at 15. I was very determined and ambitious to make it work.”

“It is great that I have been able to make a living out of being an artist, which I wouldn't have been able to do without the support of my friends & family.”

At work:

“I'm a very practical person - I like making things. I'm a hands-on person that prefers to get out there and get started.”

“I'm a farmer's son, so I haven't ever had the chance to indulge in an artist's temperament.

“As a teenager, if I came down to breakfast after 8am my father would say ‘Good Afternoon.'

“I work hard as an artist, painting around 7 hours per day.”

“The hunting skills that I learned as a child on the farm are what I use today to stalk animals with a camera or to take great flying shots.”

“As an artist, I like to work in a variety of mediums – I enjoy the challenge of this. I work in oils, acrylics & pencils to give me variation in my work.”

“Patience is the key to my work, I'll sit in hides for weeks waiting for that special moment where I capture what I'm looking for on film.”

“Painting requires dedication; I'll sometimes be working on the same piece for months.

“Sometimes I will spend all day just painting an eye on a tiger.”

On travel:

“One summer, whilst I was at art college, I worked at Chester Zoo, cleaning out & feeding the animals. This was my first insight into more exotic species, which I would later see in the wild on my travels.”

“I've been very fortunate to travel to see some incredible wildlife spectacles, such as the annual wildebeest migration in the Masai Mara & the king penguin colonies in South Georgia .”

“When I watched David Attenborough's Life on Earth as a child I didn't ever expect to travel to these places myself.”

On conservation:

“I set up the Wolds Barn Owls Group with friends a couple of years ago. It's a real hands-on project where we make & put up barn owl boxes on farms on the Yorkshire Wolds . We're a really enthusiastic team and have had great support from the local community.”

“I've always had a particular affinity for barn owls and they often feature in my paintings – it's nice now to give something back,” he said.

At home:

“When I first moved to Fotherdale Farm, Thixendale the house had been derelict & there were only two plants in the garden.

“My wife and I started from scratch, planting the garden with wildlife in mind.”

“It is now like a mini 1.5 acre nature reserve with hides & feeders & perching branches for the birds.”

“Most of my bird paintings are produced from the wildlife in my garden.”

In business:

“As well as me selling my paintings, I've set up a business selling greetings cards into shops.”

“ There's over 500 places to buy my cards now in the UK .”

“ I'm delighted that my cards are now in places like the RSPB & National Trust shops & it makes me very proud to pop in & see my cards in there!”

On the Yorkshire Wolds :

“It is a fantastic place to live if you are a wildlife artist.

“I wake up in the morning to find grey partridges on the garden path, hares boxing in the field opposite my bedroom window and roe deer ambling along the hedgerows past the house.”