THE Standard continues its look ahead to the Cotswold Hare Trail by talking with artist Phillip Kingsbury.

‘I love being part of the Cotswold Hare Trail and was delighted to be asked to take part again. I really enjoyed the event last summer.

‘This year I am painting the hare as a Cotswold scene with lots of animals; animals that you can find in the Cotswolds.

‘I want the hare to be bright and bold and slightly abstract in terms of design.

‘I find the process very fun and love seeing the hare evolve as I paint. I start with key features and then like to improvise as I paint and think of new ideas.

‘The hare trail is great fun to be part of, I love seeing what people come up with and what ideas people have. Painting the hare this year is a different experience as we have a 7-month old baby, I love showing him the hare at the end of each day as I add a new animal and new elements to the painting.

‘I have been painting and drawing since as long as I can remember. In 2004 I graduated from Hereford Art College and have worked as a Graphic Designer/Artist since then. It was at art college that I discovered lino printing and absolutely love the printmaking process.

‘I love to paint, and although in recent years I have been concentrating on creating lino prints, it’s nice to have a reason to go back to the paint brush for a big project like this. I like to sketch from life and in both printing and painting I like to twist and turn perspectives to make things seem a little bit out of place and sort of dreamy.

‘My work always starts with a very quick, rough sketch or idea, and then that idea/design is then re-drawn several times until I am happy with the composition. I find with the hare, this is a good positive challenge due to the curves and contours of the hare itself.

‘I have hidden some of the animals amongst leaves and branches and he even has a mouse hidden in his ear. There’s a squirrel (using the hares eye as the squirrel’s head), and lots of insects and butterflies that people can have fun spotting. I am enjoying using a very bright palette, using greens and blues.

‘I am looking forward to seeing all the other hares on the trail. It’ll be fun hare-spotting on day-trips to different towns with my wife and baby.

‘To see more of my work, visit woodenspoonpress.com. I also have Facebook and Instagram pages called The Wooden Spoon Press.'