Gary Hodges Biography

Gary Hodges is Britain's premier wildlife pencil artist. He was born in Surrey, England, in 1954. Since childhood his deep love for nature led him to observe and photograph wildlife. From 1979 he has been applying this interest and knowledge to his pencil drawings. Some of his successes include: He won the Society of Wildlife Artists/Worldwide Fund for Nature's fine art award in both 1989 and 1990. In 1991 he was a finalist in the BBC World magazine 'Wildlife artist of the year' competition. At the Prestigious International Festival of Animal Art held in France, 1993, he was awarded "Best Foreign Exhibit" for his drawing "Love and Protection". In 1994 his one person show at the famous Mall Galleries, London, was a complete sell out. In 1996 he won the John Solomon Trophy for "Best Selling Images by a Living Artist". In 1997, he was again awarded the John Solomon Trophy and the same year he won the prestigious "Published Artist of the Year" award from the Fine Art Trade Guild. Through his drawings, he has raised in excess of a quarter of a million pounds for charity.

Gary is an enthusiastic supporter of conservation and environmental issues. His concern is reflected by the many organisations that have used his work to raise funds, including the Environmental Investigation Agency , Born Free Foundation , Greenpeace UK, Robin de Bois, World Wide Fund for Nature, David Shepherd Conservation Foundation and AfriCat.

He has exhibited all over the UK, France, Venezuela, Kenya and Tanzania and his work has sold worldwide. His drawings have been in over 70 exhibitions and auctions, many of them for environmental groups. Among these were three shows at the Medici Gallery, London, three exhibitions of fine art for Friends of the Earth, and numerous shows with The Society of Wildlife Artists.

He has also exhibited for the Pastel Society at the Mall Galleries, mounted a one person show in Paris, contributed to the Living Earth rainforest art exhibition at the Natural History Museum, and featured in four charity shows for Kings College Hospital. He has recently contributed to shows in aid of Tibetan refugees, baby life support systems, and various wildlife conservation causes.

Elected a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists in 1990, he is currently serving on the council of the society. He has work in the collection of the internationally renowned Nature in Art Museum, Gloucestershire and has been an "Artist in Residence" there annually since 1990.

In 1990 he was commissioned by Virginia McKenna to create a commemorative drawing of the late conservationist George Adamson . This has subsequently been made into a limited edition print, bringing the total of limited editions reproduced from his pencil drawings to around 90, most of which have completely sold out. On the secondary market, some of his prints command prices of £2,500 and more.

In 1992, Gary, in association with Fastframe, produced the first ever National ITV Telethon print of a "Bengal Tigress and Cub" which raised over £20,000 for the Telethon Trust.

His one person charity show in November 1994 at the Mall Galleries in the heart of London attracted queues stretching down The Mall for the private viewing. The 500+ guests included Virginia McKenna, Rula Lenska, Dennis Waterman, David Shepherd, Chris Packham, Bernard Cribbins, alongside many other celebrities and admirers of his art. The event was televised on five occasions. All the originals and over 900 prints were sold with all the proceeds of over £90,000 being donated by Gary to the Born Free Foundation and the Environmental Investigation Agency for their work to help save wildlife. Following this resounding success a similar event is planned for the year 2000.

He has travelled widely in Europe, North America, South America, Africa and Asia gathering inspiration and references for his original works. Recent trips have included Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania and Borneo.

List of pictures
Thumbnails of pictures
Pictures availible
Fareham Framing Centre: 01329 231421
Errors and Omissions Excepted. Last updated 9 Feb 2003