HOWARD Phipps, the distinguished wood engraver, who lives near Salisbury, is the featured artist in the 87th annual exhibition of the Society of Wood Engravers, at Bankside Gallery, on Thames Riverside, London, from 4th to 23rd February.

The exhibition will be opened by Hal Bishop, the writer, curator and administrator of the Golsoncott Trust, the charity that administers grants to the arts.

The Society of Wood Engravers’ annual exhibition features original prints which are rigorously selected from an open submission. The exhibition tours to several venues throughout the year showcasing the best contemporary work from the United Kingdom and overseas. The 87th exhibition will be at Make South West in Bovey Tracey from 1st March to 21st April and later at galleries on Merseyside, in Oxford and in Thirsk.

Much of Howard Phipp’s work is rooted in the downs of Wiltshire and Dorset, with their deep coombes and beech clumps, around the area where he lives.

He works from drawings and watercolours made on location, using light to reveal the underlying sculptural form of the landscape. Ancient trackways and striking hill forms draw his eye – timeless places on which earlier generations have left their mark. His subsequent wood engravings are profoundly imbued with a sense of place.

Pictured is Catherine’s Barn.