Artist finds beauty in England's rewilding 'mess', from beaver-felled trees to wild wetlands

Rebecca Howard has spent two years visiting rewilding projects across England and painting landscapes featured in a new exhibition. The work highlights the visual appeal of rewilding sites, where features like fungi-covered dying trees, water buffalo in new wetlands, and beaver-created pools challenge conventional ideas of beauty in the English countryside.

Rewilding areas often feature beaver-felled trees, untidy scrub, deadwood, weeds, and mud that some view as unsightly. Howard's exhibition presents these elements as aesthetic subjects worthy of artistic attention and appreciation.