Andrew Ellis Paintings Biography
Andrew’s
passion for painting the natural world demonstrated itself at an early
age. Growing up in rural Devon, he was drawn to studying wildlife, and
in particular birds of prey, which remain one of his favourite subject
matter. He continues to live in the South West, with his wife Donna,
and their two children, and is still very much inspired by the surrounding
wildlife. He is actively involved in countryside management, releasing
Grey partridges with the help of local farmers, a regular contributor
on bird forums, and works closely with organisations such as IAF (International
Association of Falconers), and BFC (British Falconer’s club) to
raise the awareness of falconry around the world.
Whilst studying at Exeter College of Art and Design (1987-89), he won a British Association Shooting and Conservation competition, and also secured his first contract - to illustrate Ranulf Raynor’s “The story of the sporting gun.” Several years later his paintings were featured in the very successful book, "Gyrfalcon" by Emma Ford, and most recently have been included in “The flying of falcons” by by Ed Pitcher and Ricardo Velarde, which is set to become a modern classic. He continues to work on the illustrations for “Peregrines of the World”, contributing authors to which include, Professor Tom Cade, Professor Clayton white and Jim Enderson.
In 1991 Andrew held his first solo exhibition at the National Falconry fair, and has enjoyed much success exhibiting there regularly over subsequent years. It was also here that he met a number of major wildlife artists including Alan Hunt, who became a source of inspiration for his work.
Andrew’s work has been featured in many falconry, shooting and wildlife publications, his work is collected worldwide and he has had exhibited as far a field as the Middle East, America and Europe. He is also a regular contributor to “Birds in Art”, a show organised annually by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum , which seeks to present the best contemporary artistic interpretations of birds and their related subject matter.
Since 1997 Andrew has been working with the prestigious London based gallery, the Halcyon, situated in Mayfair,where he has featured in many of their wildlife shows. In 2007 he had a very successful one-man show with them, where his work included Gamebirds and Middle-Eastern subjects.
Andrew travels around the world in pursuit of wildlife
references, the places he has travelled to for inspiration, include:
North America, Botswana, South Africa, and the Middle East. His most
recent trip to North Africa provided much inspiration for an exciting
series of paintings from the region.
His recent work has included portraiture for Royal families in the Middle
East and heavy involvement in the redesign of the UAE emblem.
“Andy’s pictures show the best of the beauty
of wildlife in it’s natural habitat. He manages to capture the
moment that he is portraying perfectly which is only possible when the
artist is truly passionate about his craft and his subject matter”
William
R Asprey
(Chairman, William and son.)
My recent work has included portraiture for Royal families in the Middle East and heavy involvement in the redesign of the UAE emblem.
