A NEW exhibition invites visitors to take a peek beneath the undergrowth and between the hedgerows, to catch a glimpse of the world of the minibeasts and birds. But beware, for you might find something unexpected staring back at you.

As a keen birdwatcher, Stocksfield surrealist artist Rachel Hope has always been fascinated with nature, and has used it as a constant muse in her work for decades.

“I’m inspired by the theatre of nature, which happens all around us like a parallel world,” Rachel said.

“There is a hidden universe amongst the tangled hedgerows, river banks, and forests, and for the species calling these places home, their life carries on with complete disregard for us, just as we often walk by without noticing them.

“When I’m birdwatching for example, I don’t wish to be a protagonist in their story, I just wish to observe and reflect on how they might perceive life. Then I play with this perspective through art.

“Their secret world is the perfect place for an artist to construct the surreal, and create new realities from.”

After graduating with an art diploma from college in her home town of Wakefield in Yorkshire, Rachel began developing her individual style, which she confesses to being “a little creepy and strange”.

Although she thought about becoming a traditional wildlife artist because of how inspired she felt by nature, she ultimately found it too limiting, opting instead to experiment with surrealism.

One particular painting of Rachel’s which features the strange and surreal amongst nature is called Baby Snail, which features a snail with a human head.

“I wanted it to feel as though the viewer were looking through a microscope, staring into nature’s world, only to find that something unusual is staring right back at them,” Rachel said.

“The surrealism aspect comes from the surprise of finding the extraordinary within the ordinary.”

To create these wonderfully weird images, Rachel uses collaging as a tool for inspiration, where she can experiment with juxtapositions of images to create something new.

Most often, she works acrylic paint and pastels.

Another aspect of nature which artistically intrigues Rachel is human beings themselves.

Once of her most recent life portraits was a famous face – writer and philosopher Marcel Proust – a art piece commissioned by Hexham’s Phil & Lit Society, whose library he now takes pride of place in.

“It is important to transfer the personality of the subject onto canvas,” Rachel said.

“So with Proust I used plenty of deep, quite serious colours to help illustrate what we know about him as a person.”

Rachel will be displaying a collection of her work at her exhibition Beaks & Wings & Eggs & Things next month.

This exhibition will be a momentous occasion for her however, as finding a home for her usual art in rural Northumberland has not always been easy.

“Although I wouldn’t change living in the sticks for anything, I’ve found it challenging to find places whose share a similar style to mine, often they are interested in more traditional.

“This upcoming exhibition therefore is a great opportunity to get my work out there into my local community.”

Beaks & Wings & Eggs & Things will run from May 4 until May 23 at Scott’s cafe at The Forum Cinema in Hexham.