Artist shares beauty of ‘unloved’ creatures in new exhibition

An award-winning wildlife artist based in Melksham is preparing for her first solo art exhibition at the Pound Arts Centre next month showcasing the beauty of spiders, bats, woodlice, pigeons and other ‘overlooked’ creatures.

Naomi Joy has been painting animals and wildlife for almost 10 years and is about to showcase her first solo exhibition titled ‘Love the Unloved’, a collection of paintings displaying wildlife that is overlooked or under threat.

She said, “Our local wildlife is really struggling. There are amazing groups doing what they can, but it’s going to take us all to notice the tiny lives and take action to really make a big impact.”

In her new exhibition, Naomi said she hopes to shift perspectives on our local wildlife. “I have exhibited at some wonderful wildlife exhibitions over the years, full of extremely talented artists. However, often the shows are filled with non-native or stereotypically beautiful animals such as tigers and kingfishers, I’ve also played my part in adding to the mass of the latter,” she said.

“Have you really looked keenly at a wood pigeon and the way their iridescent neck shines? Or seen the tiny hairs on a spider’s legs? I absolutely love to paint wildlife that are often overlooked or hated somehow, as every creature is vital to our ecosystem and we are losing them at an alarming rate. Hopefully my work will help shift perspectives on our local wildlife.”

The exhibition will run from 23rd October to 3rd November at the Pounds Arts Centre. “Over Halloween was the perfect time due to the subject matter and I am so grateful to the Pound Arts Centre for hosting it.”

Naomi added, “I Have also recycled canvases and use eco or homemade paints in a lot of my work, so even the materials can often be considered unloved or loving our neglected planet in some way.”

Naomi’s journey as a wildlife artist tarted when she visited Secret World Wildlife Sanctuary and photographed a rescued barn owl there. “I went home and painted it and realised that is exactly what I want to do, as much as I possibly can,” she said.

“When all my passions combined, I became a wildlife artist. I have always been keenly interested in the natural world, especially local wildlife, rescuing mice, newts and hedgehogs from a young age.

“I’m also vegan and really believe in raising awareness of the persecution and threats inflicted onto animals.:

In March, Naomi was awarded the Mammal Illustrator of the Year 2025 – Best Portfolio from the Mammal Society. She has also been selected to receive funding from Arts Council England to carry out more research at local Wiltshire Wildlife Trust sites on the local wildlife at threat and create her own paints with rock and minerals found at the sites to use within the paintings.

She said, “At Green Lane Woods in Trowbridge, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have been enhancing habitats for the bats, where the rarer Bechstein’s bat can be found. We are also running a bat walk from the exhibition one evening to showcase the brilliant work Wiltshire Bat Group have been doing for the bats locally.”

Bats have been a key inspiration for Naomi as an artist as in the past, she has rehabilitated injured bats and raised baby bats that went back into the wild.

She said, “I absolutely love painting bats and completed a whole series just on bats of the UK. I’ve also been involved in exhibitions and created artwork around raising the profile of badgers, the persecution foxes face and symbiotic relationships between wildlife.”

During the exhibition at the Pound Arts Centre in Corsham, Naomi will also be running a children’s Halloween bat workshop. “I am hoping to inspire more young children to see what we have around us and also how cool bats are,” she said.