Hares leap into life in the summer exhibition at the Robert Fuller Gallery, Fotherdale Farm, Thixendale, near Malton, from June 4.

Wildlife artist Robert Fuller made national headlines when he braved the last winter’s heavy snows to study a group of hares on the Yorkshire Wolds.

Usually solitary, hares only come together to mate, and so when Robert saw more than 50 hares bounding through snow fields, he dressed in white and waded through the thigh-high drifts for eight hours a day to watch them in temperatures as low as minus 14 degrees C.

Recalling his bleak winter endeavours, he says: “I’ve endured Antarctica to photograph wildlife, but nothing compares to watching courting hares on the Wolds this winter.”

One encounter in particular stood out: “I counted 24 bouncing over the horizon towards me, then 32. Hares were coming from all directions. Within 20 minutes, 51 were in front of me. I couldn’t contain my excitement. Seeing so many together is extremely rare. There were at least 20 females in season,” says Robert.

In order to take photographs, he had to be unseen. A hide was impractical as he needed to move quickly, and his usual green camouflage gear stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Bespoke clothes and camera kit were the answer,” says Robert. “I fashioned an outfit from a white dump bag held together with cable ties and string for my camera and tripod, and for myself I made a balaclava out of a white pillowcase, white oven gloves and a white all-in-one spray-suit.”

Each time a snowstorm came over, Robert was able to edge closer to the hares, confident of his invisibility. “Behind me, my footprints had already been covered by drifting snow,” he says.

His perseverance over ten days in the Arctic conditions even attracted the attention of BBC1’s Sunday evening countryside series, Countryfile, in April.

Now, from his photographic studies, Robert has created typically detailed paintings of the hares, their courtships and their leverets – the first to have been born in 2011 – that form the main focus of his latest exhibition of originals, prints and bronzes at Fotherdale Farm.

As ever, there is a conservationist’s zeal to Robert’s work. “Despite their abundance on the Yorkshire Wolds, brown hares are one of the fastest-declining mammals in this country today, and these paintings celebrate their tenacity and determination to survive despite the odds,” he says.

Accompanying the exhibition will be a series of nature walks and talks, including a slide show by landscape photographer Joe Cornish, who shares his tips on June 4 at 7.30pm, and a wirework sculpture workshop by Susan Nicholls on June 14 at 7.30pm.

For details of June and July’s bird-watching tours of the Wolds, visit the website robertefuller.com.

To reserve a place, phone 01759 368355 or book online. Please note, admission to the exhibition is free but a charge applies for each event.

Hare Today Gone Tomorrow, Robert Fuller’s Summer Exhibition, runs from June 4 to 19 at the Robert Fuller Gallery, Thixendale; open daily from 11am to 4.30pm.