A fascinating exhibition of sculptures and photographs by two artists has opened at Gallery Pangolin at Chalford, near Stroud.

The 'Natural World' exhibition features meticulously detailed animal studies by Nick Bibby accompanied by Steve Russell's photographic exploration of East Africa.

Nick Bibby spent much of his childhood wandering the Lake District and Cumbria, developing his abiding love of nature and wildlife.

He said: "I love to sculpt wildlife, to try to capture the character and vitality of the subject as I observe it going about its daily business."

Bibby has always been fascinated by the natural world. His talent was evident at an early age, largely self taught, he began sculpting commercially at sixteen. He followed various successful vocations: director of a leading miniature figurines company, chief design consultant for a French art company and sculptor and model maker for television and stills advertising in London.

Bibby returned to his first love - the natural world - and began casting into bronze in 1992,his precisely executed animal studies have since become collectors' items.

His unrivalled ability to render natural textures of feather and fur in wax and clay is exemplified by a series of reconstructions of extinct animals of the Mascarene Islands.

One of Bibby's recent commissions of a life-size 'Emperor Penguin', a charismatic sculpture greets visitors in the foyer of The Wilson Gallery and Museum in Cheltenham. It was especially commissioned by The Wilson, to represent the importance of Edward Wilson in Scott's Antarctic expeditions and the Wilson family's role in the founding of the Museum.

With subjects ranging widely, from small to monumental, Bibby's sculptures are owned and admired by an ever growing number of collectors worldwide.

Steve Russell has shot photographs since he was a child, his passion for the camera eventually prompting his father into building him a darkroom. That proved an enlightened investment,ultimately helping Russell transform a schoolboy hobby into an award-winning career.

Particularly adept at photographing sculpture - a notoriously difficult thing to capture thanks to the vagaries of ambient light on three-dimensional objects, Russell has been working closely with Pangolin for 20 years.

Russell's passion for African life and culture was first ignited on a visit to Uganda with the Ruwenzori Sculpture Foundation when he was commissioned to photograph the site and development of the sculpture foundry and gallery there.

Frequent journeys to East Africa over the last twelve years have provided Russell with huge inspiration and the opportunity to photograph an impressive variety of animals and bird species as well as staggering scenery,from the Rwenzori Mountains of Western Uganda to the Tanzanian coastline.

A mammoth expedition to the Rwenzori Mountains in 2018 also known as 'Mountains of the Moon' led to a successful exhibition of the same title at The Royal Geographical Society, London.

Russell's work features in both private and public collections including 'Nature In Art' Gallery and Museum in Gloucestershire, the Royal Geographical Society Collection and the British Council in Kampala, Uganda.

'Natural World' runs at Gallery Pangolin until Saturday, November 13.