Philip wilde

a love of Landscape

Philip fulfilled his love of painting landscapes whilst pursuing a military career. A talent, initially identified at school, flourished into sensitive watercolours capturing some of the views he encountered during his career. Amidst the demands of his profession the one constant was the family holiday home in the Ardèche, France.

It was there, during summer leave with his family, that Philip taught himself to use watercolours to enhance his drawings.

It was there in the Ardèche that his style developed. Born in 1944, Philip Watson Wilde grew up in Cheshire and was educated at Sandbach School.

He excelled in art but, after briefly considering art college, Philip decided to join the Army. A career Army officer, Philip commissioned from RMA Sandhurst in July 1965 into The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment and served until July 1997 when he retired from the Army to take up a post at the Royal British Legion head office in London.

There were many postings during which professional commitments precluded leisure time to paint, such as Berlin, West Germany, Falkland Islands, Libya, Bahrain, and operational tours in Northern Ireland.

However, when based in Hong Kong, Co. Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and at NATO HQ in Mons, Belgium, he had at times the opportunity to paint scenes that appealed to him. His artistic ability became known at NATO.

As a result, he received a number of commissions, many of which are reproduced here.