About Us
The History of the Southern Nature Art Exhibition
Proudly running for over 10 years, the Southern Nature Art Exhibition has grown from humble beginnings to become the most significant wildlife and nature art exhibition in the UK. It is a firm fixture in the wildlife artist's calendar, returning to the much-loved Rookesbury Park as its permanent home for the foreseeable future.
Four award-winning artists make up the Directors of this CIC (community interest company), driving the exhibition to new and greater heights, increasing their reach to local and overseas nature artists, making it a must-attend event.
After the Directors took over the event in 2023, they have seen a huge rise in interest in the annual event, with each exhibition being better than the last and breaking SNA records every year! The exhibition is currently the largest independent nature art exhibition in the UK.
The Directors
Every Director is a working artist and valued member of the team, each bringing something different to the table. This makes SNA special, with very dedicated artists (understanding and living through being a current artist) making decisions to help benefit those who choose to exhibit with us. We are a small but dedicated team that loves what we do. Organising the SNA takes a whole year, and each of us puts in thousands of hours to make it happen (with very little financial gain!)
Each Director has either a part-time or full-time art business of their own, and produces their own work alongside SNA - each specialising in areas such as painting, ceramics, textiles, mixed media and more.
Meet The Team
Neal Griffin
Director & Exhibition Manager
Neal is a much loved member of the SNA team and an absolute legend! He is a full-time multi-award winning artist ranging in mediums from ceramics to painting, and has a passion for African Wildlife, although often ventures into other areas of the natural world. He is very hands on in the SNA and leads the curation and organisation of the exhibition. You might spot him building a plinth, making wooden signs, sorting out prizes or up a ladder hanging art!
Julie Weir
Director, Secretary & Social Media
Julie is a hoot and a fantastic member of the team! She is a full-time artist capturing the intricacies and beauty of British Wildlife in clay, pencil, and watercolour, also being internationally recognised as a book illustrator. She is never without stationary and keeps us on track when we go off on a tangent in meetings! She holds the team together and manages our social media, organisation, and much more that wouldn't fit into a small paragraph! Basically she is a legend too.
Jasmin Heard
Director, Event Organisation, Website & Catalogue Producer
Jasmin is a huge nature lover and reptile nerd! She works part-time as an artist specialising in coral reefs, and works multiple jobs alongside her art and SNA - at the Coral Center sustainably fragging corals and at a plant nursery product testing plants and soils! She writes the catalogue for SNA each year and runs the website, as well as helps in other areas. She always brings her Chinese Water Dragon 'Ragnor' to each SNA private view to meet the artists. (I can't really call myself a legend but you can if you want :) )
Nicky Heard
Director, Marketing & Event Organisation
Nicky is a fabulous artist and a legend! She rocks wacky hair and has a brain filled with ideas! She is a full-time artist, having developed her own variant of needle-felting into canvas, and winning multiple awards for her work. She teaches her own art classes and is well recognised for her innovation in the world of art techniques. She is behind a lot of SNA's marketing and organisation of the artists exhibiting with us, as well as doing lots of bits that the rest of us forget about!