Henk, artist in residence at 'Nature in Art'

We had planned a day out today, possibly to a National Trust location, but couldn't find one open that was also relatively local. Instead Helena suggested a visit finally to 'Nature in Art', a gallery venue dedicated to art inspired by nature, which we have often considered going to. At the moment they are hosting the travelling exhibition of the 'Wildlife Photographer of the Year' which we have also always wanted to see.

The sun was shining when we arose and mists were swirling down along the Golden Valley again. But it took us hours to get out and about. We drove to Gloucester and then took the road northwards towards Tewkesbury following the valley of the River Severn to get to the location at Twigworth. The farm land we passed through was very wet and many fields were still completely flooded, showing up interesting forms in the landscape which you don't normally perceive.

The gallery is housed in a large old house set in its extensive grounds, with walled gardens allowed to run rather wild, reached by a single track lane crossing the flooded fields, not far from the river. There were rather too many people there for my liking, which meant that it was difficult to find enough space to stand back and view the one hundred photographs. The images were very impressive and had informative descriptions including information on how they had been filmed.

We then ventured outside to see some of the artwork which has been installed in the gardens, which I thought was of varying quality. But it felt so good to be outside in the bright sunshine that I didn't care in the least. We also went to visit the artist-in-residence, Henk van Zanten, who it turns out lives locally in cheltenham, despite having a Dutch background and having spent much of his early life in South Africa. He had been working here all week and had some of his output set up in a small studio in the grounds next to the gardens. I had a brief chat with him and he was very friendly and jovial. I asked him if he would mind me taking his portrait for a blip and he was very happy to do so. Henk uses photography as a form of notebook to record images from nature and life, particularly when he travels around the world, which he can then use later as inspiration for his paintings.

We then headed back to Gloucester to have a coffee and a short walk around the docks. The light remained beautiful with just small sections of clouds in a deep blue sky for most of the time.

I have added some more pictures from today to this Flickr gallery.