ARTIST CAPTURES STUNNING IMAGE OF BUSHY PARK GARDENERS
Artist Richard Hooke stumbled across a bunch of volunteer gardeners in the Water Gardens in Bushy Park in June last year. They were hard at work and Richard asked if he could take photographs of them.
The scene looked just like an Impressionist painting and Richard wanted to paint it.
They agreed and eighteen months on, he has just posted the work on his website called The Gardeners (www.richardhooke.com)
His work features in the latest Friends of Bushy and Home Parks newsletter.
Richard writes on his website: “Bushy Park covers over 1,000 acres of woodland, waterways and open parkland by the River Thames between Hampton Court Palace, bordered on its riverbank side by Home Park, and the town of Kingston upon Thames.
“Its origins date back to the Tudors and it remains the home of herds of resident Red and Fallow deer, established by Henry VIII over five hundred years ago.
“The Friends of Bushy and Home Parks is a charity that protects, conserves and ensures the public’s continuing enjoyment and appreciation of the Parks.
“Its work exclusively involves members and volunteers, who can be identified by their Royal Blue tops.
“The Gardeners shown here wear the distinctive maroon jerseys of members of The Royal Parks team, led by its Head Gardener.
“Again, these are volunteers. I came across them by the Water Gardens.
“Planting and clearing debris and dead vegetation in dappled sunlight, the scene looked like an Impressionist work of art.
“I commented on this and asked for their permission to take some photos in anticipation of capturing the scene in a painting.
“Without looking up or taking a break, they cheerfully agreed and asked to see the result. Eighteen months later, this is it.
“Whilst I didn’t know it at the time (and it’s probably inappropriate to disclose his full name here) it now seems wonderfully apt that The Gardeners in this scene are led by someone called Vincent.”
Richard, originally from Epsom, captained England Schoolboys and signed for West Ham, aged 16, but his progress was curtailed by injury. He has been a professional artist for 15 years, first exhibiting at the Mulberry Tree Gallery in Swanage, Dorset, in 2009 and his paintings are drawn from life, most frequently along the banks of the River Thames in Surrey and on the hills, fields, cliffs and beaches of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.
“I enjoy painting people at work or play and have painted actors and players at Hampton Court Palace.” (one of which hangs in the Royal Real Tennis Club Members’ room)
He added: “Over the last 15 years, I’ve painted mainly in oils and permanently exhibit and sell my work at the Mulberry Tree Gallery in Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck.
“I’ve completed a number of private commissions and have exhibited with both the Molesey Art Society and the Purbeck Artists’ collective at a number of locations in Dorset and along the Thames in Surrey, from Richmond and Kingston to Molesey and Walton.
“This fertile ground for painters, made popular by the Impressionists. I’ve also held a number of solo exhibitions, opening my studio to visitors at the foot of Ballard Down between Studland and Swanage and in the Winning Gallery in Hampton Court Village.”
To learn more about Richard’s work go to www.richardhooke.com