Paintings about wildlife restoration to be shown in West Sussex
An exhibition by artist Rebecca Howard, dedicated to the landscapes of areas where wildlife is being restored, will open at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, United Kingdom, on September 12. Over two years, the artist visited such projects across England and later created nine large canvases. The Guardian World reports.
The paintings depict trees felled by beavers, standing deadwood, shrubs, fungi on dying trees, new wetlands and beaver ponds in fields that previously dried out. Howard sought to present a different view of landscapes that may appear untidy because intensive land management has been abandoned.
Nine canvases after two years of travel
Before beginning work on the series, the artist visited Cabilla, a fragment of temperate rainforest in Cornwall that is being restored and expanded by the Thousand Year Trust charity, founded by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison. She also visited the Knepp Estate, a farm in Devon, Allestree Park in Derby and the Broughton Sanctuary estate in North Yorkshire.
When selecting locations, Howard took into account the diversity of habitats. All the places she painted are part of the Rewilding Britain charity’s network. The artist noted that landowners were open to change and showed her the results of nature restoration, including the return of lost species.
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Landscapes of nature restoration
At Hamatethy Farm in Cornwall, Howard saw a large beech tree whose trunk had been mostly gnawed by beavers, though the tree was still standing. According to her, when it falls, the deadwood will become a habitat for many species.
At Knepp, the artist studied standing deadwood, which is an important habitat for hundreds of invertebrates. Over recent centuries, such trees were often cut down and removed, while more recently they could also be removed for safety reasons.
At Moor Barton in Devon, Howard took part in ring-barking non-native larches, a method in which bark is removed in a ring around the trunk. According to her, this creates deadwood and allows young oaks and birches to develop, as fast-growing larches had been displacing them.
Each of the nine canvases is 120 centimetres high and 70 centimetres wide. The exhibition will run at Knepp until October 18, after which Howard hopes to show it at other locations in the United Kingdom.
