Andrew Gifford auctioning painting to help wildlife

By Ros Moss

Individual Giving Officer

“I wanted to make paintings that immersed you in the woods, where your senses could be overwhelmed by the confusion of branches and brambles and sunlight.”

Andrew Gifford is a Sussex-based artist and Sussex Wildlife Trust member, who in his own words has ‘always been obsessed with nature’.

After painting cities for many years, Andrew returned to his love of nature for inspiration. In his paintings, Andrew plays with light and shadow and captures what he terms the “natural organic energy” of the world around us, often concentrating on the marginal and overlooked ‘scrubby’ landscapes. Andrew hopes through his work to change people’s mindsets on these spaces and see their true beauty and value.

Andrew has immersed himself in the landscapes and woodlands of Sussex, concentrating on how quality of light can transform a view and then building up an image of keenly studied, dense layers with rapid, dynamic mark-making.

Andrew has generously recently auctioned his beautiful painting entitled ‘Spring flowering Hawthorn, near the River Adur, Sussex’ with the proceeds raised going to support Sussex Wildlife Trust's work to restore recently purchased land at Ebernoe Common nature reserve. 

The winner of the auction is absolutely delighted - he's a long time fan of Andrew's work. The bid was £4,000. 

Andrew studied fine art at University of Newcastle and graduated with first-class honours. His work has been shown across the world to critical acclaim.

To find out more about Andrew's work please visit his Instagram page @andrew_gifford_artist and Gallery website.