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Angela Gladwell (1945- ) Angela Gladwell trained in the Painting Department at the Royal College of Art. At this time however, there were no specialist natural history art courses to tempt her and so she believes that she was 'saved from becoming a genre painter.' As a result, her work is not confined to the natural world nor restricted in the media she works with. Examples of her work have included a nine-foot (almost three metre) long landscape panorama (albeit painted with very small brushes) as well as some very detailed small-scale artwork. Gladwell's choice of subject matter has partly been a reflection of where she has been living. Until recently this was the south coast of England, which had inspired her to produce large watercolour beachscapes. She also studied a wide range of specimens and the Booth Museum in Brighton provided her with many to draw. Gladwell writes 'although I have never been anywhere exotic I've found very exciting things to paint in various museums, including aardvarks, long-nosed echidna, hornbills, pelicans, pangolins, fish, gorilla skeletons, kiwis and many more.' Gladwell currently lives on the Welsh Borders where the mountains have become a considerable inspiration for her work. In addition to painting, she also teaches natural history drawing and painting for the University of Birmingham at the Ludlow Museum Resource Centre and runs day schools for the Barber Art Institute.
This drawing of a kakapo or owl parrot was painted at the Booth Museum in 1988 where Gladwell spent three years on and off painting museum specimens, teaching and generally assisting in the museum.
The kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) The kakapo (Stringops habroptilus) is one of several native birds of New Zealand that are now endangered because of the activities of man and the impact of introduced species. Great efforts are now being made to protect the remaining individuals of this fascinating and unusual species. The kakopo is currently sponsored under the Threatened Species Trust Programme. The kakapo is the heaviest parrot in the world and is believed to be the longest-lived bird species in the world. It cannot fly, but climbs up trees using its claws and tail. Rather than climb down again, it simply falls to the ground, using its wings to help slow the descent.
The Angela Gladwell Drawings Collection The Natural History Museum has two paintings byAngela Gladwell; the kakapo and also a kiwi family. Other paintings of hers are to be found in a number of public and private collections.
Exhibition and publication details The painting was previously exhibited at the Booth Museum. Drawn from Nature: the Artwork of Kristin Rosenberg & Angela Gladwell at the Booth Museum of Natural History, January - March 2000.
References and further reading Butler, D. (1989) The Quest for the Kakapo. Reed Methuen: Birkenhead, Auckland. 136 p. Cemmick, D. (1987) Kakapo Country: the Story of the World's Most Unusual Bird. Hodder & Stoughton: Auckland. 127 p. |
