Projects Archive
Previous projects of interest.
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A New Forest Cattle Drive
Back in October 2018 I was asked by a commoner friend if he could commission an unusual oil painting. He has a large herd of cattle which run on the New Forest that had to come in for TB testing. This meant driving the cattle back to his farm across the open forest with horses. I leapt at the chance, although cattle drifts are not uncommon, it is very rare to see quite so many cattle being driven across open forest and to have advanced knowledge of the route was a great opportunity for a painting which really couldn’t be missed Photos of the drive The view was to be…
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Rutting Fallow Bucks
In 2016 I received a commission from a New Forest Keeper for an oil painting of rutting fallow bucks. Getting up very early one morning to try and film scenes of the annual fallow rut in his quiet corner of the forest with his video recorder, he was especially thrilled to have successfully captured the scene with a rare white buck. He asked for the painting to be set in the exact spot where he had witnessed the rut taking place. I took a selection of stills from the videos and put together an autumn scene incorporating most of the large herd, including the many males that had gathered there.…
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A Celebration of Commoning
A Celebration of Commoning was painted to Commemorate 100 years of the New Forest Commoners Defence Association. It was sold by auction at the 2009 New Forest Show, with all proceeds going to the NFCDA. The central watercolour depicts a typical New Forest pony drift scene across South Weirs, Brockenhurst. It is surrounded by pencil sketches of local commoners and scenes depicting various aspects of commoning life. The top section represents the administrative bodies of commoning.Starting in the top left corner: Agisters of the past, Jesse Taylor, Charles Evemy, and Albert Evemy. The Verderers Court, overseeing the commoning community, then modern day faces, retired Head Agister, Brian Ingram, current Head…
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Brushwood – Father & Daughter Exhibition
In 2006 I held a successful exhibition at the New Forest Heritage Centre with my Father, woodcarver Joe Wilding. Exhibition Details New forest based father and daughter artists, Woodcarver, Joe Wilding and Claire Kitcher, are holding their first joint exhibition, since they exhibited together back in 1987.The exhibition will feature a section…The New Forest through the eyes of Claire Kitcher…and a section of various subjects. Claire enjoys painting in watercolour, pastels and oils… all mediums are covered in the exhibition, plus a few sketches to show some preliminary work. They are both members of the prestigious Woodlanders art group, who exhibit together in Burley every September. Joe won the Ron…
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The White Horse Hotel Romsey
In 2007 I was asked to produce a large “Stubbs” style oil painting for the main reception room of the refurbished White Horse Hotel in Romsey. I was asked for a gentle New Forest scene featuring a grey forest mare in the foreground with an oak tree and typical forest background. The view is from the Wilverley end of Longslade near Sway, with Hinchelsea woods in the distance on the left. In reality there is no Oaktree growing here, so I added this one using artistic license. This hopefully makes for a more aesthetically pleasing picture, fitting the brief, and giving the three ponies in the foreground somewhere to shade.…
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Previous Commercial Work
Much of my time has been spent on my own paintings and commissions, but I’ve been very lucky and have picked up various commercial and magazine work through the years. There are the many Tuftop designs, hand painted clock faces, logos, graphic design but here are just a few examples of interest. I have illustrated many articles for the New Forest magazine, which was always very varied and I particularly enjoyed the many different subjects. With an American publication called Canter magazine, I was honoured to have my painting on the front cover and an article about me, featuring in their first edition! And all the way from California, a…
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Zuzu. Angels, Bells & Petals
In 1999 I was approached by Mr Phillip Erklen, the President of the International Music Syndicate, regarding a “highly secret” project he was working on. He was in the process of planning a surprise tribute evening for the Actress Karolyn Grimes, who played the part of Zuzu Bailey in the classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Mr Erklen was having a musical piece composed especially for Karolyn by Mr Phillip Keveren and asked if I would be interested in producing the artwork for the music score cover. I was honoured and thrilled to be involved in the event and was very honoured to receive a thankyou phone call and a…
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TufTops Ceramic Cutting Boards
For several years I was the artist for Tuftops ceramic cutting boards. Although they are no longer available, I am still regularly contacted by Tuftop owners and proud to have been involved, the range of subjects required certainly tested my artistic skills! The Sally’s Friends,’TUFTOP’ pictured above deserves to have a special mention. Not only was it the best selling ‘TUFTOP’ in the UK, Germany & Canada, but it is very special to me. The young girl feeding the ducks, is my daughter Sally (now a mother of two). The two ducks in front of her are Tilly and George, a couple of Call ducks that I had for a…
