David
Ord Kerr has a reputation as one of the finest
bird painters in this country, particularly
of exotic birds. His ability to combine accuracy
with wonderful vibrant colours makes his
subjects come really alive. He has a great
following of collectors.
David was educated
at Hertford Grammar School where he concentrated
on zoology, botany and painting. He has always
been interested in natural history, particularly
in birds and reptiles. For a period he was
employed as a gamekeeper, and then at a small
private zoo, before he adopted painting as
a full-time career.
He worked as a painter
until 1978 when, as a member of an expedition
to the Amazon, he worked as the expedition
artist producing drawings of fishes for the
British Museum and plant drawings to assist
with a monkey breeding project at Chester
Zoo.
It was not until he returned to England
that he completed a foundation course at
the Hertfordshire College of Art and Design,
followed by a three-year course at the Royal
Academy Schools under Peter Greenham RA with
Roderic Barrett as his personal tutor, where
he won prizes both for anatomy drawing and
landscape painting.
David is active in seeking
reference material for his work and has recently
travelled to the Kalahari and revisited the
Amazon, being one of the very few people
privileged to stay with the Yanomami people.
He plans a trip to the Borneo jungle in the
near future.
David now works across a wide
range of subjects. He has also undertaken
a series of thirty paintings of birds and
animals native to a particular Middle East
country which will form part of an extensive
Royal collection. He now lives, and has his
own studio, in Norfolk.
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