A HUGE collection of painting, sculpture, treasure and museum pieces, all inspired by nature, is gathered together in one place in Gloucestershire.

The Nature in Art Museum and Art Gallery, is housed at Wallsworth Hall at Twigworth, between Tewkesbury and Gloucester and it is open after the Christmas break with an impressive list of events lined up for art and craft and animal lovers to enjoy.

Nature in Art is the world's first gallery of its kind and it houses world-class collections depicting plant, bird, and animal life of all kinds. It contains work from 60 countries, covering 1,500 years of history from more than 600 artists and crasftspeople.

Pieces by the likes of Picasso, Shepherd, Scott and many more famous artists are on show among contemporary sculpture, Oriental treasures, contemporary crafts, early illustrations, modern abstracts, original prints, ethnic art and wildlife landscapes.

And as well as all the regular features, there are plenty of events to keep return visitors entertained.

A dozen special exhibitions have been lined up for 2005. The first begins next week. It showcases the entries in the 2004 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition run by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. It runs until March 6 and some of the other specials to look forward to include A Celebration of the Sea, images of nature in carpets and rugs, Objects of Desire, floral metal sculpture and more.

Virtually every week there is also an artist in residence at Wallworth Hall. Each artist sits in from Tuesday to Sunday, providing a range of demonstrations. The February line-up comprises sculptor Chris Manley (Feb 1-6), Andrew Forkner on pencil drawing (8-13), botanical illustrator Simon Williams (15-20) and a session of printmaking and painting from Carry Akroyd and Matt Underwood (21-27).

There are also two art courses each month for people inspired to have a go themselves. The first session, on February 19 and 20, will see Ian Coleman giving instruction on painting in acrylics, while other sessions cover the likes of botanical coloured pencils, wire sculpture, flower painting, marbled paper and wood carving.

Nature in Art is open all year every day, except Mondays, from 10am to 5pm. Find out more by logging on to www.nature-in-art.org.uk.