We’re thrilled to share the next chapter of The Wylde Ones with you — fresh from the easel and ready to meet the world.
Since its launch just four months ago, the collection has been welcomed with open arms. Nearly half of the originals have already found their forever homes, and we’re seeing collectors return time and again to add to their displays. If you’ve been thinking about a favourite, it may still be waiting for you… but not for long. [See what’s available →]
This season, Ann has been working at pace, and we’re delighted to unveil a handful of brand-new Wylde pieces a little earlier than planned. They’re full of her trademark charm and character, and we can’t wait for you to discover them.
We hope they bring you as much joy as they’ve brought us in creating them.
With our warmest wishes,
Gary & Ann
For those who’ve been following from the start, welcome back. And if this is your first glimpse into The Wylde Ones, don’t worry — we’ll get you up to speed.
As ever, each piece in this series has been hand-painted by Ann on canvas-wrapped boards, and there are a couple of points worth highlighting again as we reveal the latest additions to the collection.
One of the key discoveries from Gary’s earlier Fauna series was the impact of bold, clean colour-blocking. With Wylde, we wanted to go further — retaining that clarity of form, but softening the palette to feel warmer, richer, and more sympathetic to a different kind of home setting.
That led us to the idea of matching our tones to the Archive Collection of a certain heritage paint brand — let’s call it Barrow & Fall.
We should be clear: we’re not using household paints. Oils and emulsions don’t play well together! Instead, Ann reverse-engineered a handful of select hues, mixing bespoke oil blends that evoke the originals with uncanny precision. Seen side-by-side, you’d be hard-pressed to tell the difference.
Unlike the smooth boards most often used for Otherwurlde, these are painted on linen-wrapped canvas. That subtle weave — along with Ann’s deliberately gestural brushwork — lends the works both a softness and zest.
These paintings breathe. They don’t aim for precision; they hum with intent.
With one or two exceptions, these creatures are tucked into corners — as if they’ve just crept into view. It’s a quiet nod to the idea of wildness: not staged, not centred, not asking permission.
The effect is visually arresting. By pulling the subject to the margins, the image often reads as an abstract first, an animal portrait second — and that duality matters.
Interestingly, this off-centre framing has stirred something unexpected in viewers: a quiet discomfort. Some admire the work deeply, yet confess they couldn’t live with it on their wall — unsettled by the asymmetry.
That’s fine by us. In fact, it echoes a belief we hold dear: that art should provoke. It should challenge the eye, unsettle assumptions, resist complacency. It should spark thoughts, start conversations, and trigger the kind of personal coincidences that make a piece yours.
Art should earn its place — not charm its way in by playing safe.
This approach also gives us the space to let other narrative elements emerge — things that would feel cramped if the subject were bang-in-the-middle.
There’s something deliciously mischievous about leaving room in the frame. It feels unfinished in the best possible way. Like anything could happen…
So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the latest wave…
Hares have quickly become some of the most-loved subjects within The Wylde Ones. At recent shows in the Corn Hall, several of you mentioned that a trio of hares simply wasn’t enough — you needed a set of four to complete the display. So here he is: the fourth in the line-up.
This puzzled fellow has clearly caught the sound of something — a loud, insistent buzzing — but hasn’t yet worked out where it’s coming from. Look closer at the bloom above: a delicate Morning Glory. Peer inside and you may spot a rather stripey visitor lurking within…
For Harebell, we returned to ‘Suffield Green’ from the Barrow & Fall Archive. Its rich, pea-green backdrop makes a perfect foil for the hare’s warm russets and tans, while the whites and soft pinks of the flower hover confidently overhead, balancing vigour with calm.
The loose, expressive feel as the canvas weave punches through is one of the enduring hallmarks of this collection; a happy result of using those canvas-wrapped boards.
The image below, shows how we’re framing Original Artworks for this collection. We’re having work float-mounted over a matte background of midnight blue. There’s then a small gap before we get to a fillet of distressed & antique’d effect brass. That allows the blue backboard to show through along with the natural shadows cast by the artwork itself. It’s a beautiful solution. As for the actual moulding, we’re using a gently contoured, inward-sloping moulding in matte-black. We consider this the ideal solution to best support these expressive slabs of colour and allow them to ‘sing’.
Next, we have Sunny Side Up!
If you’ve seen Gold Dust in this collection, you’ll recognise the wash of glowing “particles” Ann first painted around the bumblebee and its daisy. Originally devised to capture a sense of movement, the effect proved so striking that we couldn’t resist returning to it here.
This time, the subject is a fox, gazing upward in quiet reverence at a sunflower in full bloom. There’s devotion in his posture — as though this golden disc is the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. To heighten the moment, Ann re-used the particle motif, suggesting the flower’s energy and positivity radiating down onto its captivated admirer.
For Sunny Side Up! we turned to ‘Bay Area Blue’ from the ‘Barrow & Fall’ Archive. This deep, almost otherworldly blue creates a vivid foil for the fox’s brick-red coat, while the sunflower’s yellows and golds float overhead in luminous contrast. It’s a painting that seems to glow from within — one that can’t help but make any room feel warmer.
I think Ann’s careful use of lighting on the fox’s face has really paid off; the look of sheer reverence on display here is breathtaking. That said, it would all be for nought if the sunflower itself was any less glorious than this; the particles drifting lazily about the flower-head and those rich amber / golden tones work so well here.
One of the best-loved prints in The Wylde Ones has been Big Drip, Little Owl — a comical favourite that never fails to raise a smile. For this new piece, rather than a direct sequel, we wanted to create a companion: another owl caught in the rain, but with a very different personality.
This time the spotlight falls on a Horned Owl, sitting grumpily beneath the same relentless drizzle. Yet he’s not alone. Look closely and you’ll see a yellow snail perched atop one of his ears, stretching its horns toward another snail dangling from the leaf above. Ann imagined them embarking on a slow-motion love affair — which gave rise to one of the early working titles: The Chaperone.
First came the Little Owl, now joined by his larger cousin. Different in stature, but no less rain-soaked in spirit. Together, they make a charming odd couple.
The background here is ‘Belvedere Blue’. Instead of repeating the darker tones used in Big Drip, we deliberately chose this solid, chalky hue. It sets off the Horned Owl’s biscuit-brown plumage to lovely effect, while also amplifying the lemon yellows of the snails. The result is both playful and tender — a scene that shares a kinship with its earlier cousin, while very much standing on its own.
Perhaps the most endearing aspect of the earlier painting ‘Big Drip’, was the look of utter resignation on the Owl’s face… So many of you have commented that his expression reminds you of feeling grumpy on Monday mornings, so we knew we needed more of that!
One of the surprise favourites in The Wylde Ones has been Three Thieves — a playful scene of three daring field mice working together like a trapeze act to snatch a ripe berry from its bush. In this loose sequel, the adventure continues.
Here we find the same mischievous trio, momentum carrying them once again as they struggle to bring their prize home and divide the spoils. Ann introduced more of the bramble twig and its leaves this time, echoing the graceful arc of their swing in the original. The result is a lively, kinetic piece, full of energy and invention.
The background is painted in ‘Mere Green’, revisited from Three Thieves. But here’s the fascinating twist: despite following the same recipe, this batch emerged subtly different. It’s a reminder that hand-mixing colours is closer to alchemy than science — no hue can ever be taken entirely for granted. That unpredictability adds to the uniqueness of the work: no two canvases can ever be quite the same.
Gosh, there were SO MANY reference pics needed for this one, showing field mice in weird & wonderful poses, that I think Ann was at the point of exhausting google’s library…
Just a reminder of how we’re framing Original Artworks for this collection. Artwork is ‘float-mounted’ over a matte background of midnight blue. There’s then a small gap before we get to a fillet of distressed & antique’d effect brass. That allows the blue backboard to show through along with the natural shadows cast by the artwork itself; a great solution. As for the actual moulding, we’re using a gently contoured, & distressed inward-sloping moulding in matte-black. We consider this the ideal solution to best support these expressive slabs of colour and allow them to ‘sing’.
I say this every time: Our stand at the Corn Hall might look impressive these days, but we still struggle for storage. That means we can’t bring everything you might want to see…
Neither Ann nor myself want to disappoint you, so if there’s anything you’d particularly like to see in-person, PLEASE get in-touch ahead of time and we’ll ensure it’s there!
Thank you for staying with us to the end of this Newsletter.
With this new wave, The Wylde Ones has truly taken flight. What began as a daunting leap back into wildlife painting has become one of our most warmly received projects yet — and for that, we’re deeply grateful.
As many of you know, this collection is what enables us to keep developing the Otherwurlde — the heart of our storytelling world. We imagine future releases alternating between the two, so whether your passion lies with the wild or the wondrous, there will always be something new to discover.
Above all, we want to thank you — for your support, your encouragement, and your trust in what we do. It means the world to us, and we couldn’t continue without it. Here’s to keeping the light burning, together.
