Derbyshire artist Irene Brierton specialises in detailed watercolours of British wildlife.<br> <br> Following successful exhibitions in London with the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (RI) and with the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) in 1988, Irene was invited to become a member of the Society of Women Artists. She exhibited with the SWA at the Westminster Gallery for teh first time in 1988. In the same year, she took part in a BBC Wildlife series, where Simon King introduced her, as a wildlife artist, to the art of badger-watching. She later pursued this new-found interest, eventually being elected Chair of the then newly-formed Mid Derbyshire Badger Group.<br> <br> Now also a Council member of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, her profile as a keen amateur naturalist with a special depth knowledge about badgers has been raised over recent years through many interviews given on local and national TV and radio.<br> <br> However, painting remains the greatest passion in her life. She delights in her time spent patiently observing her subjects out in the countryside. It is that, coupled with her mastery of technique, that enables her to depict her birds and animals so beautifully, sometimes in their natural habitat or as a more contemporary image.
