Robert Gillmor

Robert Gillmor
Gillmor in March 2010, during a week as artist in residence at Nature in Art, standing in front of a limited-edition linocut of his cover art for Birds New to Norfolk, depicting a Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Born	1936 (1936) Reading, Berkshire, England
Education	Leighton Park School, Reading School of Fine Art at Reading University
Occupation	Artist and illustrator
Notable work(s)	New Naturalist book jackets since 1985.
Awards	RSPB Medal

Robert Gillmor (born Reading, Berkshire, 1936) is an ornithologist, artist, illustrator, author and editor, from England. He is a founder member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) and has been its Secretary, Chairman and President. He has contributed to over 100 books, and in 2001 was a recipient of the RSPB Medal.^[1][2][3]

Early life

Gillmor was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading and the School of Fine Art at Reading University. He was just 16 when his illustrations were first published, in the monthly magazine British Birds. When he was a student in the art department of Reading University, he illustrated his first book, A Study of Blackbirds. Gillmor taught art and craft at his old school for six years, Leighton Park in Reading before commencing a freelance career as a wildlife artist in 1965.

Later career

Gillmor's output has been enormous and in a variety of forms, line drawing watercolour, lino-cuts and silk screen. Since his first book in 1958, his work has since appeared in over 100 books.^[1]

Moving from Reading to Cley next the Sea in Norfolk in 1998^[1] proved an inspiring influence on his work. He resumed making lino-cuts. He is also a keen ornithologist, and has served on council for all three of the national organisations, RSPB, British Ornithologists' Union and the British Trust for Ornithology.

He has illustrated the covers of the annual reports of the Berkshire Ornithological Club (previously Reading Ornithological Club) since 1950.^[1] He is a long-standing member (and former president) of the Reading Guild of Artists.^[1]

SWLA

After helping to found the SWLA in the early 1960s, Robert served as its Secretary and Chairman for many years. He was also elected President in 1984 and served for two five year periods, he is currently a vice-president of the society. As well as working to promote current work, Robert has done much to promote work of past artists, including Charles Tunnicliffe, (editing three books) and his grandfather, Professor Allen W. Seaby (1867-1953), who instilled in him a love of printmaking.

Recent

In 2011, Gillmor completed lino-cuts for four sets of postage stamps for Royal Mail, with a further three sets (of six stamps each) to come in 2012.^[1]

A retrospective of Gillmor's work was exhibited at Reading Museum from 23 October 2011 to 29 April 2012.^[4]

Works

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• — (2006). Cutting Away: the linocuts of Robert Gillmor. Peterborough. ISBN 978-1-904078-14-2. 
• — (2011). Birds, Blocks and Stamps: Post & Go Birds of Britain. Reading: Two Rivers Press. ISBN 978-1-901677-79-9. 

As Editor

• Tunnicliffe, Charles (1981). Sketches of Bird Life. Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-03036-4. 

As Art Editor

• The Birds Of The Western Palaearctic, nine volumes, 1977-1994^[1]
• Birds Of Berkshire, 1996^[1]

As Illustrator

• David Snow. A Study Of Blackbirds.  - Gillmor's first book, undertaken while a student^[1]
• J. Denis Summers-Smith. The Sparrows. 
• J. Denis Summers-Smith. The Tree Sparrow. 
• Tony Soper. The Bird Table Book. ISBN 978-0-7153-2413-4. 
• Birds New to Norfolk. ISBN 978-0-9542545-3-7. 
• Clare, John (1982). Eric Robinson and Richard Fitter, ed. John Clare's Birds. Oxford. ISBN 0192129775. 
• Wood, J. Duncan (2003). Horace Alexander: 1889 to 1989: Birds and Binoculars. York: William Sessions Limited. ISBN 1-85072-289-7. 
• The dust jackets of each of the New Naturalist series since 1985.

References

External links

• Sample works on SWLA website
• Artwork for the 1993 British Birdwatching Fair
• Official 'New Naturalists' desktop wallpaper, featuring a collage of Giilmor's artwork for the series