When it comes to holding an exhibition in a new market, renowned wildlife and portrait artist Michael Jackson says he never counts his chickens before they're hatched, but it is a safe bet that there will no egg on his face when first his Bermuda exhibition, 'Wonderful World', opens at the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) this week.

Quite the contrary, in fact. Such is the realism and quality of this artist's work that expressions of admiration, and indeed awe, are certain to echo those expressed in other parts of the world where his paintings are prized, for he is widely regarded as one of the world's top wildlife artists.

Openly friendly and disarmingly modest, Mr. Jackson simply says of his newest opening: "I am confident the exhibition will go down well, and the art will be appreciated, but this is a new market for me.

"Some people won't know my work here, so I am hoping they will come along and see it for the first time — but hopefully not for the last."

Given his international reputation, it might seem quite a coup that Bermuda has an opportunity to enjoy his talents at all, but that would be without knowing of the artist's long history of supporting worthy causes which are close to his heart. Children's charities are one, and conservation issues are another.

Over the past five years Mr. Jackson has raised more than £150,000 for the UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and he has also done a great deal of charity work relating to the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India, where the animals have been seriously depleted by poachers.

"Millions and millions of pounds are donated to tiger conservation, yet they are still being shot," he says. "There are less than 2,000 left in the wild worldwide from a population of 120,000 at the turn of the century. Chinese medicine is the big culprit — every part of the animal is used — and overall tigers are being poached for that reason."

Part of the solution, he maintains, is arming the forest guards at Ranthambhore, and letting them shoot poachers on sight, as is the practice in Kenyan parks, but since the Indian government refuses to provide the requisite funding, educating the villagers about the value of tiger conservation is an alternative. To this end a charity school was established which now has 1000 students. School buses also visit the villages, educating those who otherwise remain in ignorance, because to them life is about putting food on the table, and killing tigers is a source of income.

"The people doing the shooting need to understand what they are doing," Mr. Jackson says.

"Providing education for families living in the villages bordering Ranthambhore Park and teaching them about environmental issues and preserving the tigers goes a long way. It is a really big deal for families to have a child who is educated.

"There are all kinds of issues involved. They have no TV, no radio, so they talk about what they learned in school. If they learn about conservation and habitat everybody gets to hear about it."

As for the tiger population at Ranthambhore, the artist understands that it currently has a healthy population of 35, with two females recently giving birth to four cubs each.

Like many of the philanthropically minded, Mr. Jackson would like to do more to help other worthy causes but does not want to spread himself too thin.

"Where do you start when there are so many worthy causes?" he asks. "I like to work with charities, but spreading yourself too thin doesn't work, so I like to target one or two and do something for them."

Which explains why he is currently in Bermuda. Thanks to David Ezekiel, chairman of International Advisory Services (IAS) and his friend of many years, whose brainchild it was to hold the 'Wonderful World' exhibition as a fund-raiser for two registered charities — the Coalition for the Protection of Children (CPC) and the Bermuda Society of Arts (BSoA) — a series of' special events has been planned for this week.

Leading the way tomorrow evening is a private champagne reception for invited guests at the BSoA gallery at City Hall. This will be followed on Friday evening by a gala dinner at the Tucker's Point Club, during which, among other prizes, one Jackson painting of Tucker's Point and a commission for a second painting, will be sold by silent auction, as well as a painting of poppies by the artist's 11-year-old son and budding artist, Myles.

Saturday will be the public's turn to see and buy the paintings during a champagne reception at the BSoA, following which the exhibition will continue through June 4.

"Although it is my first charity show here, I have done this all over the world," Mr. Jackson says. "The last two exhibitions in Barbados did very well, and I was looking for another venue so I could alternate between two islands. Dave offered to help, and Fran Tucker, assistant vice-president at IAS, is organising the event at Tucker's Point. She is doing a fantastic job, as are Sheelagh Cooper of CPC and Victoria Evans-Cracknell of the BSoA. The opening at Tucker's Point is as good as it gets."

In all, there are 60 paintings in the 'Wonderful World' exhibition, for which the artist has spent 18 months preparing. He sums up the body of work as: "Just my interpretation of a moment in time, or a subject that has inspired me to paint".

Despite the fact that the majority combine flora and fauna, Mr. Jackson says, "There is no specific message, or 'Save the Planet'. Each painting speaks for itself, and is really intended to be a beautiful thing to own — to brighten your home for generations. Also, the paintings I have for sale here are priced a lot lower than in the London galleries, so they're a good investment for the future."

Despite travelling abroad several times a year in search of inspirational material for his paintings, the artist spends most of his time in his studio at the family home in France, which he shares with his wife Ali and Myles. There, he leads a very disciplined life.

"I have always treated art as a regular job. I start at 8.30 a.m. and stick at it until 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday," he says. "A lot of people have a lot of talent, but they don't have the discipline and application to get their head down and get on with it." Referring to the 'Wonderful World' exhibition, he adds: "To get this body of work together takes discipline and dedication. You have to do the work whether you are in the mood or not. The best part for me is starting a painting. It is exciting, exhilirating, and usually takes place quite rapidly. Then the hard work starts. Two-thirds of it — refining, softening, increasing the light, the contrast — is what makes the difference: between something that is ordinary, and hopefully something that is extraordinary."

A former watercolour artist, today Mr. Jackson's chosen medium is oils because he prefers their softness and colour subtlety in capturing the requisite textures of realistic paintings. He also reveals that, while oils take a few weeks to dry to the touch, it takes two year for them to dry properly.

"After two years certain colours pull in more of the varnish, and generally need revarnishing then, A lot of people don't know that. A painting goes flatter and flatter, so if you clean it and revarnish it, the colours come back out. It is an amazing difference."

Asked what he regards as the essence of a good painting, Mr. Jackson says "light".

"I try to inject a really good light on a subject so that it has high contrast and a more three-dimensional look. If you take out the light, it becomes flat and uninteresting, and loses the contrast you need in order to make something look exceptional. If you take a possibly uninteresting subject and light it with beautiful light it comes to life. I try to paint light as it appears on the subject. If I see something that is beautifully lit I will work around that."

To achieve the lifelike quality of his work requires seeing the flora and fauna up close and personal, which is why he travels to such exotic places as the jungles of India, Africa, Peru and Borneo, where he creates copious sketches and photographs. The research can be dangerous — his life was once threatened by a 700-lb. silverback gorilla in Rwanda — uncomfortable and physically taxing, so he follows a regular keep-fit regime, updates the requisite injections, and obeys the advice of local guides wherever he goes.

"I have a file in my brain in which everything gets banked — what will look good with what — and the photographs are back-ups so I can get the technical details right," Mr. Jackson says. "If you are painting something that is going to be a very accurate representation of a lion, tiger, or macaw, for example, you have to get the reference absolutely spot-on, in much the same way as when you are painting someone's portrait. There is a huge difference between getting something nearly right and absolutely spot-on, and the latter is what I strive for. Each painting is done to the best of my ability."

Recalling a trip to the Peruvian jungle, where the Rainforest Foundation is battling for land rights and the protection of the Inca inhabitants, the artist says it was the hardest, most rigorous trip he has ever done. The daily humidity was 100 percent and the temperature a stifling 95 degrees F., and he carried 15 lbs. of kit on his back. Because the forest canopy was so dense and high, very little light reached ground level. The glimpses of wildlife were zero, and those of exotic birds fleeting at best. Instead, he captured the foliage appropriate to the birds he paints, which are always depicted in their natural habitat, and used exotic bird specimens in private collections as an easier reference.

Animals require a different modus operandi, however.

"When you see an animal in the wild it is a running, killing machine. The difference is massive. People who know wildlife know when you have painted from living things," Mr. Jackson says.

In quite a different vein, he has also observed charity cataract operations (costing the equivalent of $15 each) being done with laser surgery in India, and marvelled at the results as patients' regained their sight — in one case a woman who saw her children for the first time after 22 years.

"There is a lot of good going on despite the poverty and the living conditions that these people have in India, which is a land of massive contrasts. There is always hope for them," he says.

As a father, it bothers him greatly that, where children's charities are concerned, despite their "fantastic work", so much child abuse and neglect still goes on, and is unreported, all over the world. For this reason, Mr. Jackson continues to do what he can to support them.

Meanwhile, on this, his third trip to Bermuda, the artist is pleased to note that, despite the razing of and alterations to so many buildings, "as cities go, Hamilton remains small but beautifully kept, and the people are proud to look after their homes, which is so refreshing compared to other cities".

Asked what advice he would give aspiring artists, the award-winning painter and author says: "Have a definite style to start with, and concentrate one style and one range of subject matter. Get a good, professionally presented portfolio together, and see a good gallery. Under no circumstances sign a contract until you have seen a good lawyer, and don't be afraid to do a deal to your advantage. Galleries have high overheads, and you have to be prepared to pay a massive commission to them for hanging in their gallery."

• To learn more about Mr. Jackson, and to see his prints and paintings, visit website wjackson@wildlife-art.com