Gary Woodley’s lifelong interest in wildlife and art has led to an illustrious career as an artist and illustrator spanning 50 years, painting birds and animals in their natural habitat. He continues to live and work in Ducklington, Oxfordshire painting his detailed wildlife studies using gouache on speciality papers sourced from all over the world, including the majestic Long Eared Owl painted on Mexican bark paper that is available to view and buy at Derwent House.

Gary trained at the Boehm of Malvern Ceramic Studios in Worcestershire, before working as a freelance artist joining the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Society of Wildlife Artists that offered opportunities to show his work in exhibitions around Britain. Later he moved into the world of book illustration, his first commission being a new addition of Wind in the Willows published in 1985 and working alongside author Mollie Harris illustrating her trilogy of books including ‘Where the Windrush Flows’ about her life in Oxfordshire.