THE latest exhibition at Ilminster Arts Centre brings four talented and well established Gloucestershire-based artists to Somerset.

Four From The Forest showcases the work of Chris Sinden, Peter Walwin, Linda Twiddy and Jackie Cox. Although they use different media, the artists share a love of nature that inspires their art.

Jackie started doing animal portraits when she worked as an animal nurse. A member of the UK Coloured Pencil Society, she has recently rediscovered silk painting and her paintings in this medium have a new vibrancy and spontaneity.

Linda trained as an engineering draughtswoman. Her work emphasises detail and texture, using the dramatic contrast of graphite pencil and the vibrant effects of watercolour. Linda takes inspiration from geometry, geology, architecture and the repeating patterns found in nature. She has exhibited with The Wildlife Art Society.

Chris followed a career in advertising and while based in Norway taught himself linocutting. He has developed a collage style where smaller images butt up against each other to make a larger final picture. Chris settled in the Forest of Dean in 2005, where his passion for wildlife subjects developed. He is an Associate Member of the Society of Wildlife Artists.

Peter left engineering to pursue a career as sculptor, woodcarver and fine furniture maker. A member of the British Woodcarvers Association, his work varies in scale from 12ft dragons to tiny figures just millimetres high. He is a regular Artist in Residence at Nature in Art, Gloucester.

The exhibition opens on Monday and will remain open to visitors free of charge until Saturday, March 7.