‘Birds’ is the latest exhibition by artist Rachel Booth Davies at the community café in Tre’r Ddȏl.

Several photographic exhibitions in the last year that at Cletwr have featured birds, but Rachel Booth Davies’ exhibition is of exquisite drawings and paintings for which she uses photographic references to ensure they represent the birds accurately.

She said: "Painting birds has been a more recent direction for me, following an exciting commission I had for Dyfi Wildlife Centre. I love to watch them in my garden and local woodland where I walk with my dog. I am inspired by nature, and in my paintings, I use my illustrative style to express the magic I see in the natural world.”

Rachel has lived in mid Wales for nearly 30 years. She has a professional artistic background in illustration and animation, and has been employed to create artwork for animated films including ‘The Bear’ and ‘Father Christmas’ made by TVC (Television Cartoons Ltd) and the Beatrix Potter series.

A few years ago, Rachel painted the beautiful and detailed map of Tre'r Ddôl and Tre Taliesin, which can be found on the Storifa interpretation hub outside Cletwr. In doing this painting she was determined to include every house and building in the two villages. Recently she has extended her skills to include mural paintings. Her three fascinating murals inside the Dyfi Wildlife Centre bring to life the landscape and wildlife associated with the it. She has also painted large-scale storyboards at Dyfi Distillery at Corris Craft Centre.

As well as her professional work as an artist, Rachel has worked for many years as a carer.

She brings the two sides of her life together in the art sessions that she currently runs at Plas Cwmcyfelyn Care Home in Clarach, Aberystwyth.

Rachel added: “I feel passionately about the connection between creativity and wellbeing. I love working with the residents. It's so rewarding for me seeing their pleasure when they rediscover a talent, or discover one they didn’t know they had."

The exhibition runs until 5 August.