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Ponies Shading in a New Forest Copse
On Wootton Heath, very near to our own horse’s field, there is a small oak and holly copse. The copse has always been a popular haunt for the New Forest ponies and cattle, as it provides shade from the heat and flies in the summer, shelter and valuable forage in the winter. The hollies are often cut by the Forestry Commission during the winter to provide a source of food for the commoners ponies. I was working from some reference photos that I had taken the previous year, but you must take into account that the contrast will always seem higher in photographs compared to real life. Pastels were used…
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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…
