L Paul Matthews has painted and drawn since he was small. In August 2011, after a successful career as a Graphic Designer, he chose a career as a full time artist painting wildlife and portraiture from his home in rural Dorset. He paints contemporary wildlife paintings, where the subject takes centre stage and the mood is set by light and shade.

L Paul Matthews’ work attracted wide acclaim when he was a finalist in the David Shepherd Foundation’s competition for Wildlife Artist of the Year. His picture, ‘The Passenger’ was selected ahead of thousands of entries from all over the world and received the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at The Mall Galleries, London.

Almost simultaneously Paul was in the final of the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, receiving runner up in the Frozen Planet section with his polar bear portrait. More recently Paul’s portrait of a chimpanzee (Self Contemplation) received “The Chester Zoo Award” at the ‘National Exhibition of Wildlife Artists’.