Claire Kitcher

fine art
Horse & Pony Art by Claire Kitcher
Claire Kitcher on TV

I have been involved in two television programs featuring the New Forest. Excerpts from both of the programs can been seen here.

Windows Media format (WMV) has been used in two different quality settings, both of which should play in your windows media player. A broadband connection is recommended for the high quality version due to the large file size.

A Wild Autumn Day - BBC 2 - Program Details

A wonderful program featuring the New Forest in autumn. Local people talk about their love of the forest at this special time of year, including myself giving an artists perspective.

VIDEO CONTENT
BROADBAND VIDEO CONTENT

BBC 2 - A Wild Autumn Day
High Quality.
(6.5Mb WMV) Playing time 2min 44 sec

BBC 2 - A Wild Autumn Day
Low Quality.
(0.92Mb WMV) Playing time 2min 44 sec

The New Forest - Meridian TV - Program Details

The idea behind the shoot was to follow a horse portrait commission from beginning to end. Natalie a friend and previous customer, was waiting for a painting of her new horse 'Jack', so was the obvious choice as the customer.

VIDEO CONTENT
BROADBAND VIDEO CONTENT

Meridian TV - The New Forest
High Quality.
(8.5Mb WMV) Playing time 3min 43 sec

Meridian TV - The New Forest
Low Quality.
(1.2Mb WMV) Playing time 3min 43 sec

Filming The New Forest

The following set of photographs were taken during the shooting of "The New Forest" as a reminder of the experience, but may be of interest to anyone considering commissioning a painting.

Broken Bridge at Longslade
Starring Jack
Co-Starring Natalie
Making preliminary sketches
Roughed out sketch
Finished pastel
In process
Leaving home with the picture
Preparing for my walk on part
The unveiling
The moment of truth
The camera takes a close up.
The comparison. Phew! she liked it.

 

THE NEW FOREST

A Meridian Broadcasting Production

8 Episodes
Transmission date: from Sunday 7th September at 5:45pm and weekly thereafter
Series Producer - Hannah Dawes Executive Producer - Jonathan Marland


To many The New Forest is simply a place of great natural beauty and thousands of tourists flock to the area every summer. It's somewhere to walk, somewhere to cycle, somewhere to relax.

But in this eight part series we meet the real people of the New Forest, the people who have lived and worked on the land for generations. Commoners, the forest farmers with rights to graze their animals on the open heathland. Agisters, who are employed by the Verderers to look after the welfare of the livestock on the forest and Verderer's, those who are elected to sit on the ancient Verderer's Court.

We also visit the Keepers, who are employed by the Forestry Commission to control pests, manage the deer and generally conserve the wildlife within the forest. We see the likes of Ian Young, Maurice Holland and Martin Noble in action, timber cutting to create deer lawns, raptor ringing, bat monitoring and badger watching.

The New Forest and its villages are steeped in tradition, and Beaulieu is no exception. As owner of the Beaulieu Estate, Lord Montagu is entitled to fish the Beaulieu River that flows through the village. Each year Lord M watches as his staff use the traditional method of Seine net fishing to sweep the river bed for Sea trout, and we were there to see the catch!

With over 3,000 ponies turned out onto the forest, local equine vets Chris Pearce and Martin Peaty have their work cut out for them. Every day brings a new challenge from operating on a heavy horse with breathing difficulties to conducting a bit of horse dentistry!

The people of the New Forest are proud of their heritage and have fought hard to maintain their way of life. At the height of the summer they come together to celebrate country living and hold 'The New Forest Show', a three day agricultural and equestrian event, open to the public. With over 100,000 thousand visitors each year, the show attracts people from far and wide to be educated and entertained. From ferret racing to pole climbing, it has it all!

A Wild Autumn Day

BBC 2
Duration: 40mins

A look at the wildlife in the New Forest on an early autumn day. Red deer stags fight for a stake in the future while adders and common lizards face their last chance to find a meal before winter. And it's also time for one of Britain's answer to the Wild West, when local people saddle up and round up the forest's ponies for their once-a-year health check.