WILDLIFE and pet portrait artist Donna Terry has reopened Watchet’s Mayfly Studio, which was started by the late Nick Cotton to give local artists an opportunity to exhibit their work, but closed after his death in 2023.

She plans to continue Nick Cotton’s encouragement of the local artistic community, as well as using it as her working studio.

Donna moved to the Westcountry with her husband five years ago from Derbyshire after a long career working in schools and pursuing her art part-time.

She now works as a full-time artist producing wildlife art and pet portrait commissions, working predominantly in pastel, coloured pencil, and watercolour.

With a passion for wildlife, she has visited many places to gather reference photographs, including South Africa.

Donna said after Nick gave her an opportunity to exhibit for a week in the Mayfly Studio she fell in love with it but never thought she would be able to make it her full-time studio.

She said: “I will be forever grateful to Nick as, without his faith in my ability, I would not have had the confidence to do what I am doing now.”

Carrying on with Nick’s ethos, she is hoping the gallery, now renamed Mayfly - The Secret Studio, will continue to be a place where local artists have opportunities to show their work, and she is planning to use some wall space to exhibit local, under-represented artists.

There will also be some small group workshops and demonstrations.

Donna has been shortlisted and exhibited in the open competition for the Artist and Leisure Painter magazine, long listed for the Visual Artist Association open, and shortlisted in Sketch for Survival, receiving a highly commended.

She has also written tutorials and product reviews for Painters Online, the Artist and Leisure Painter magazine online.

Mayfly - The Secret Studio opened on March 21.