Society of Wildlife Artists | Events Programme 2026

The Society of Wildlife Artists presents a series of special event to accompany the SWLA 63rd Annual Exhibition, The Natural Eye 2026:

Thursday 1 October, 11am to 12 noon

Jane Smith SWLA will talk about her book, 'Community'. Jane travelled the west coast of Scotland to meet the communities who have decided to take responsibility for their landscape into their own hands. She will share what she learned about Scottish wildlife, and about this exciting new movement.

Jane Smith lives and works in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland. She was elected a member of the SWLA in 2015, the year in which she received The Birdwatch and Swarovski Optik Artist of the Year Award.

She wrote and illustrated ​‘Wild Island, a Year in the Hebrides’ (pub. Birlinn 2016), about the RSPB’s work on the island of Oronsay. She also writes articles for conservation magazines and has contributed to many books about art and wildlife.

Friday 2 October, 2pm

Marco Brodde SWLA will talk about his drypoint triptych, 'The living tree', on display at The Natural Eye 2026. The print shows the wilderness and wildlife around a fallen linden tree: the chaos of dead and living branches and trunks, and the birdlife, flowers and insects around it. 

Join Marco as he explains the process and story behind the work. 'The piece lets me tell the story about the need for and importance of fallen trees and "dead" wood in the forest,' says Marco, '...something which often disturbs our modern understanding of the landscape.'

Saturday 3 October, 11am to 1pm, and 2pm to 4pm

The Natural Eye exhibition showcases an incredible diversity of hand-printed original artwork, ranging from monoprints and linocuts to wood engravings and traditional silkscreens (serigraphs). Unlike commercial reproductions, the process of hand-printmaking is the creation of the artwork itself. Every print in a limited edition is inherently unique; variations in ink texture and registration that might be seen as flaws in factory printing are what make each hand-pressed piece a distinct original.

This year, Max Angus SWLA will be exhibiting four multi-block linocuts. Once a print is framed under glass, it can be difficult to fully appreciate the complex layers of ink that give original work its depth. To reveal how these pieces come to life, Max will be bringing her working sketchbooks and examples of the intermediate prints directly into the gallery.

Visitors will be able to see how colours shift dynamically after new layers were added—how a light tone can appear even brighter against a dark background, or how a cool blue can subtly trick the eye into seeing green. If you hold an original print to the light, you can even observe the physical sheen of oil layers resting beautifully over matte, water-based inks.

Saturday 3 October, 1pm

Peter Partington - SWLA Painter - Printmaker - Sculptor - Teacher

A Talk & Book Signing to Launch Peter's 'The Artist’s Anthology'

Peter Partington SWLA (1941-2025) was a fun and prolific wildlife artist, working in diverse media over the decades. He was also a great teacher and enabler of young people and bird lovers' creativity. A new book 'The Artist’s Anthology' celebrates his art and life, packed with colour, anecdotes and his beautiful images of nature, birds and passions. This talk will share a little of his life and introduce the book as an important legacy for nature and art.

The book is a limited numbered edition of 673, and each copy contains an original artwork - sketch, etching or study from Peter's studio. They are sold for readers to enjoy and to raise funds for Peter's conservation charities and to create an SWLA bursary fund. This is for wildlife artists to engage young people in art and nature and to grow future artists and their audiences. Signed copies available. UK price: £30.00 (inc artwork)

‘A lover of mother nature and a generous friend to many, Peter was a renowned artist observing, witnessing and reflecting our living world back to us in all its glorious wildness. This anthology offers a beautiful and curated insight to his artistic life & work, celebrating nature with us.’ - Jerome Partington

Thursday 8 October, 11am to 4pm

Richard Allen SWLA will be sketching and painting with watercolour in the gallery. Visitors are invited to browse through Richard's sketchbooks and ask him about his work at this informal, friendly session.

Richard is an artist and illustrator based in East Anglia amid the creeks and marshes of the Essex coast. His great passion is the natural world, particularly birds, and he enjoys the challenge of sketching and painting them directly from life in the field in all weathers. 

A freelance illustrator with over 35 years of experience, his work has appeared in many books, newspapers and magazines, as stamp designs, and on interpretation panels for many conservation bodies, including the RSPB and National Trust.

Banner image courtesy of Richard Allen SWLA

Featured images (top to bottom) by Lisa Hooper SWLA, Jane Smith SWLA, Marco Brodde SWLA, Max Angus SWLA, Peter Partington SWLA, and Richard Allen SWLA