Hazel Mountford

Hazel Mountford is an award-winning Bristol-based contemporary painter of wildlife. Her paintings are highly detailed, presented on plain or simple backgrounds, and are a celebration of the importance and beauty of nature.

The main theme of her artwork is the constantly evolving competition for space between humans and animals, and between animal species. Observing that nature has inevitably been pushed to the fringes, she uses her art to give them a call for space.

Hazel paints in thin glazes of acrylic on bespoke wood panels, using the shapes of the supports themselves to lend meaning to each artwork’s story — creating a stage that the animals interact with. She is deeply passionate about the wildlife she paints, immersing herself in understanding their characteristics, behaviour and the threats or successes they face. Her animals peer out of the painting, fixing the viewer with an intense fleeting gaze — capturing a moment of understanding, a connection formed between worlds.

Hazel has exhibited in London, Brussels, New York, Toronto, Singapore and Hong Kong. She is a multiple finalist in DSWAF and winner of the prestigious BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year — British Mammals.