WOOD, John Norris

1930 - 2015

John Norris Wood was born in London on 29 November 1930, son of Wilfrid Burton Wood (28 December 1883-3 November 1943), the eminent physician, and his wife Lucy Heald Sutcliffe née Boston (27 April 1896-25 June 1977) who married at Ormskirk in 1929 and John grew up in Shalford Green, near Braintree, Essex. John was educated at Bryanston School, being influenced by the art master, Charles Handley-Read (1916-1971) who, in turn, introduced him to Edward Bawden. Bawden invited him to Great Bardfield, Essex, gave him some lessons allowing him to use his studio if he didn’t speak. He studied at Goldsmiths College, under Clive Gardiner (1891-1960) and his tutors included Sam Rabin (1903-1991), Adrian Ryan and Betty Swanwick (1915-1989) before proceeding to the Royal College of Art, where his tutors included Edward Ardizzone, John Minton (1917-1957) and, most significantly, Edward Bawden and while at the R.C.A., he won a silver medal for zoological drawing. From around 1952, he spent periods at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End, Hadleigh, Suffolk. Wood taught at Goldsmiths’ 1956-1968, Cambridge School of Art 1959-1970 and at Hornsey College of Art and in 1971 he returned to the Royal College of Art being elected a Fellow in 1980. In 1962 Wood married the designer, Julie Corsellis Grant (Nicholls 1934-18 May 2001), daughter of designer, Richard Guyatt (1914-2007) and they lived at Garretts, Shalford, Essex and had two children. Wood became a freelance artist and illustrator, working for a variety of book and magazine publishers in Britain and America. His series for children, ‘Nature Hide and Seek’, which he wrote and co-illustrated with Kevin Dean, was designated best children’s books of the year by the US Association for the Advancement of Science also writing and broadcasting for television on several natural history subjects. Wood exhibited widely in London and the provinces, and internationally. His solo shows include those at the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden; Chappel Galleries, Colchester and the Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge. A member of the Society of Wildlife Artists in 1997 and a member of the Society of Authors and the Thomas Hardy Society. John Norris Wood latterly lived at Wadhurst, East Sussex and died on 17 October 2015.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from The Brook, Dewhurst Lane, Wadhurst, Sussex
1977 744 Horned Toad - lithograph
         745 Great Crested Newts or Tritons - pen
         746 Baby Alligator - pen
1978 1288 British Swallowtail Butterfly - hand coloured woodcut
1979 181 Little Owl sketches from life - pen
1981 798 The Bee Tyger Hawk Moth - print
         1404 The largest and smallest frog species in USA - watercolour
1982 335 Wood Turtles - lithograph
         336 Exotic Frogs, from Life - lithograph
         337 White's Tree Frogs - lithograph
1983 178 East African Chameleon, from Life - lithograph with watercolour
         284 Asian Tree Frog, from Life - lithograph with watercolour
         285 Poison Arrow Frogs (South Africa) - lithograph with watercolour
1985 685 Common Frogs and Toads from Life - lithograph with watercolour
         701 Ornate Horned Frogs from Life - lithograph with watercolour
1986 1582 Giant Toad, studies from Life - lithograph with watercolour
1987 1283 Great Crested Newts or Tritons from Life - hand coloured lithograph
         1284 British Dragon Flies - hand coloured woodcut
1988 1238 Rothchild's Atlas, from Life - etching, aquatint and watercolour
         1242 Garden Butterflies - hand coloured woodcut and lithoprint
1990 218 White Tree Frog, from Life - etching, aquatint and watercolour

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Works by This Artist