The Artist
Phillip Allder
Phililip Allder has been painting professionally for more than twenty years. Originally from London, he moved with his wife Gill to the English Lake District in 1987. It was here that, in 1990 he founded the Mountain Painters Gallery with watercolourist John Campbell.
His real passion, though, was wildlife. So, after five years painting local landscapes, he left the gallery to work from his studio at home.
In the years that followed he has built an enviable reputation as one of the UK's leading figurative wildlife artists, wining ' Best in Show ' at severl important national and international exhibitions.
Inspiration
Phillip has travelled widely to find inspiration and reference for his work. He comments; ' it's all very well going to a zoo to get close up shots of a leopard. But you need to go and see how it behaves in its natural environment. to hear the sounds it hears, to see the colours it sees, in the heat and wind and rain. Only then can you hope to paint it with conviction. '
Visiting wild places also gives a deepening insight into the delicate balance of the natural world and the very real harm that mankind is continually doing to it. Phillip is committed to conservation and 10% of all original sales will be donated to reputable conservation trusts. One particular issue of great concern is the plight of the Iberian Lynx (also called the Spanish or Pardel Lynx). The numbers of this beautiful animal were around 10,000 in the 1950's, today there are less than 100 left in the wild, in a few isolated groups cut off from each other by roads and development. There are, however, a small number in a breeding program in Spain. A glimmer of hope!
