Award-winning Netley Abbey artist to auction work for trusts

Cy Baker, who is based in Netley Abbey, has visited over 50 nature reserves across the UK, penning a unique sketch at every single one.

A former David Shepard Wildlife Artist of the Year winner, Cy has travelled the world with his sketches, but told the Echo that he still finds beauty back home.

“Everything that I do is linked to the natural world in one way or another,” Cy said.

One of Cy Baker's original works, drawn at the Rothbury Estate in Northumberland. (Image: Cy Baker) “I really wanted to do something here in the UK for our natural wildlife. You can go out and paint all the lions or tigers, but the natural wildlife we have here in the UK is just fantastic.”

“I don’t know if people really realise the breath of what the trusts do, across the whole country. You’ve got people now working on projects, for example we went to one rehabilitating temperate rainforest, and that’s a project that won’t come to fruition for 100 years."

A one-off show and auction event will be held on April 24 at London Wildlife Trust’s Camley Street Natural Park in London.