Animal Behaviour

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Justin Mark’s carefully observed drawing ‘Coming of Age’ shows two young lions grown in confidence, body size, and overall maturity. His sensitively drawn piece portrays two lion brothers, quickly approaching the age in life where they will be exiled from their family pride to fend for themselves, in one of nature’s most pivotal ‘coming of age’ moments.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Justin Mark has always had an interest in wildlife, particularly African wildlife. In 2019 he travelled to Zambia in the hope of seeing lions in the wild, and South Luangwa National Park did not disappoint, providing him with many close encounters with his favourite species. He has explored a variety of mediums, however he feels most at home with graphite pencils, which allow him to capture the smallest details with the aim of portraying accurate to life depictions of his subjects. Justin has met his favourite and renowned wildlife artist, Robert Bateman, on two occasions and in his teenage years, Justin was selected as a winner in a National Robert Bateman Art Contest directed specifically at youth. More recently, he was selected as a finalist in the 2022 DSWF WAY competition and feels honoured to be selected once again in 2023. Justin will be travelling to Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park and the Maasai Mara for more inspiration this October.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

A hunter, a mother, and a fearless protector. The lioness prowls, stealthy and graceful, amidst the shadows toward her prey. This was the inspiration for Gale More O’Ferrall’s sensitively rendered painting. Gale recalls that, as a Zimbabwean, she has spent time in close proximity with these wildcats and on becoming a mother herself grew a deep admiration for the maternal behaviour of the lioness.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Gale More-O’Ferrall is a full time professional representational artist who works mainly in oils and acrylics. Growing up in Zimbabwe, Gale went on to study fine arts at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Gale’s work is eclectically rich in subject matter and reflects her sincere appreciation of the people and places that have formed her life’s journey so far. She has been teaching internationally for 25 years and in 2011 moved to Vancouver where she has made her mark on the north American art scene.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Peidi Wang’s compact sculpture depicts a little fruit bat sneakily munching on a hanging banana. Peidi observes that even though caught in the act at it’s feast, the bat manages to retain a dignified presence. Peidi’s sculpture is hand-built in cone porcelain with engobe glaze and epoxy. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Peidi Wang is an emerging artist who focuses on detailed wildlife sculptures, balancing realism with a dash of artistic interpretation. Her use of porcelain gently reflects nature’s fragility and resonates with the delicate equilibrium of ecosystems. Each piece imbues its subject with unique charm and personality through subtle expressions. Her vision is to cultivate a personal bond between the viewer and the creature, placing emphasis on the individuality of each subject. This approach invites viewers to reflect on their personal interactions with wildlife, encouraging a deeper understanding and respect. While aligning with broader conservation goals, Peidi’s artistic perspective celebrates the individual journey of each creature within our shared natural world.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Inspired by their wonderful colours, Jane intended with her delicately rendered watercolour painting to depict African wild dogs with their extraordinary coat markings, but at the same time show their gentler side. Jane feels that together and united we can accomplish much in the protection of these fascinating animals.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Jane is a self-taught watercolour artist living in the South Downs National Park with her husband and her dogs. Her love of nature led her through painting landscapes with her father, into floristry, several years as a professional mountain bike racer and then onto her specialisation as an animal artist, allowing her to combine all her favourite things! Now running a successful commission-based studio focused on her pet and animal portraits, she also teaches her love of watercolour both in person and online and continues to strive to keep her work loose, light and with a sense of magic.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Katerina Perry’s visit to a big cat sanctuary was where she fell in love with the cheetah, and it proved to be the inspiration in creating this piece. Sculpted in ceramic stoneware, fired, & coloured, it is Katerina’s hope that through her work she will help others to also fall in love with these vulnerable big cats.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Katerina Perry is a ceramic artist from the North West of England. Originally trained in graphics, Katerina’s work combines her love of wildlife with her love of clay. Each of her sculptures is carved in solid form which is then hollowed out, fired, coloured and then fired again.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

The main objective for Jessica in this painting was to capture a moment between two beautiful souls, recognising that zebras are extremely sociable animals and will often remain with their family herd for the entirety of their life. Jessica also wanted to challenge herself by playing with a limited monochromatic palette.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Jessica Lennox is a wildlife artist based in British Colombia, Canada. She specialises in highly detailed coloured pencil drawings of her subjects and, more recently, the environment in which they reside. Jessica wants the viewer to be able to feel the fur and to read their thoughts when looking into her subject’s eyes.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

The common snail, so often crushed beneath our feet or killed by pesticides because they eat the hostas! Vicki Leslie’s highly detailed fabric and thread textile piece encourages us to look more closely as she feels they are far more beautiful than we give them credit for. Vicki feels the common snail to be an intricate, beautifully engineered and stunning life form that is often overlooked as one to be admired.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Vicki took to producing textile art late in life, but there was always a creative side to her that wanted to come out. Vicki’s highly detailed work, mainly of wildlife, is constructed using only fabric and thread and is referred to as free-motion embroidery or thread painting. This is quite an unusual artistic medium and no paint, pens or pencils are used in the portrayal of Vicki’s subjects. Such is the intricacy of the fine detail that, on first glance, many assume her work to be more a conventionally painted piece.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Nick Mackman is a close watcher of animals, their actions, reactions and general behaviour. Based on her observations in Zambia, Nick wanted to capture the sheer joy of baby elephants wallowing in mud, surrounded by their family and with not a care in the world! Her sculpture depicts a baby elephant thoroughly enjoying the sensation of squidgy mud with happiness expressed from its face through to its tail.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Nick Mackman’s art is informed by her life-long love of animals and most of her sculptures are based on observations made in the wild, reflecting a concern for preserving endangered species. Nick grew up with a dog by her side and learned from an early age that every animal has its own distinctive personality. As an artist, her work is a continually evolving exploration of animal behaviour. Nick never starts a new piece without making that connection with her subject. She needs to understand the animal, its environment, behaviour and personality; know its story and what it’s feeling.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In her delicately portrayed drawing Cornelia Bohme recalls how she saw this beautiful speckled bird everywhere she went in Namibia! Her fascination of their ubiquitous presence proved the inspiration for her artwork.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Cornelia Bohme lives and works in Bad Liebenstein, Germany. A self taught artist and a member of the German Watercolour Society, she regularly takes part in international competitions and exhibitions. Cornelia has had an absolute love and enthusiasm for the animal world since her childhood.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In Robyn Parker’s dynamic mixed media portrait the artist expresses a desire to create an image that commands presence. It was also her wish to capture the attention of the viewer whilst accurately depicting the behaviour of a tiger.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Robyn Parker is a portrait and wildlife artist who works from her home in Essex. She works predominantly in alcohol inks to create bold and expressive paintings, be they portraits of humans or animals. Robyn endeavours to evoke a sense of character and emotion especially within the eyes of her subjects.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

The framed artwork has sold but these are additional unframed editions available for purchase.  

On visiting Howletts, her local wild animal park, Cathryn Kuhfield discovered they had breeding programmes for many species of wildlife. Delighted to see their giant anteater had a baby she was able to make some sketches from the viewing window. This inspiration developed into Cathryn’s limited edition mono print representing ‘Motherhood’ in all its forms!

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Cathryn Kuhfeld is a painter and printmaker. She works extensively from the natural world with her main source of inspiration being the birds and beasts in and around her studio’s garden and its surrounding countryside. Cathryn will often take the opportunity to observe and work directly from wildlife she has rescued before she releases them back into the wild. Recently this has included a baby hedgehog, fancy pigeon and a jackdaw. Cathryn was captivated by a visit to a local wildlife safari park where they had a breeding programme for anteaters, this being her inspiration for a number of pieces.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Malaurie Auliac’s peaceful and glowing piece is painted in acrylic on a gold leaf background. Malaurie’s painting depicts a very relaxed bear basking peacefully in the water, and it is her thought that the gilding makes you think of a honey bath… and we all know the love bears reputedly have for honey!

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Malaurie Auliac’s work is a journey through the fauna that she paints in a naturalistic style. Her bestiary appears encrusted in the gold that covers the background to the majority or her paintings, so to venerate these often abused creatures. Her art is a subtle demonstration of ancient skills (Malaurie was initially a heritage restorer) applied to a contemporary creation which breathes life into her paintings. Malaurie sees her paintings as an invitation to contemplate the creature displayed and a chance to engage in a dialogue with them.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Carroll Hutchings’ highly detailed drawing captures a moment of pure reflection as the pelican glides elegantly across the calm water. Carroll recalls how she loved drawing the detail in this mono pen and ink rendering, highlighted with pastels.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Carroll Hutchings is an adventurer and animal lover who is currently based between the UK and France, where she lives with her two Great Danes, Madison & Digby. Being very fortunate, her professional career took her all over the world, from Africa to the USA, but relegated her art to a personal hobby. Drawing again, she found inspiration from photographs taken whilst living in Africa and realising the increase in endangered species led her to establish ENDANGERED INKS in 2020. Carroll’s signature style uses pen and ink , more recently adding pastels as a mixed medium. Carroll uses a technique of wash, dots, dashes, scribbling and finishing with pastels to create unique works of art of which she calls her ‘INKS’.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Family is imperative for a zebra to survive, and they live in the same family unit for many years, sometimes for life. If one zebra goes astray, the herd will spend many days looking for it. Inspired by this, Rachel Robinson’s sensitive monochrome drawing captures a beautiful bonding moment between two zebras to demonstrate the special connection they share.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rachael is a self-taught, award-winning pencil artist specialising creating work in graphite and coloured pencil. Starting her journey in March 2020 when her daughter was only 6 weeks old, Rachael has only been drawing for 3 years. Prior to becoming an artist, Rachael was a Zookeeper for 6 years, working with a large range of animals. She has a strong love and passion for wildlife husbandry, research, and conservation. Rachael also teaches online tutorials to a growing list of people all over the world, sharing her time and knowledge to help others learn both of these mediums.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Nicolas Planson’s striking painting depicts a fight between splendid and powerful male oryx antelopes with their long slender horns. Winning this fight determines the male oryx’s right to reproduce and create new life. Nicolas feels these fights to be a symbol in which the elements of fire, water and earth all mingle together to express the perils threatening the forgotten world of animals.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Nicolas Planson is a self taught French artist who lives in Britain. His work is inspired by his belief that mankind is an integral part of nature and he is convinced that if we were to turn our back on the natural world this would have disastrous consequences. Conscious of the ecological debt that us humans owe, Nicolas has used his art platform for artivist engagement, hoping to stimulate a response to respect and protect the animal world we live in. His dynamic work elevates his subjects, highlighting their magnificence as well as their weakness, and it is his hope that by doing so mankind will start to reverse the anthropocene.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Commanding respect with a formidable reputation, the iconic Cape Buffalo is physically imposing, aggressive and dangerous; characteristics which both inspired and are echoed in the strong colours and bold brushstrokes of Emma Swifts’ powerful painting. Not many predators would challenge a buffalo in its prime, with those impressive horns stemming from a distinctive fused bone shield called a boss, yet here Emma portrays the symbiotic relationship it has with the red and yellow billed Oxpecker bird.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Emma Swift is an award-winning wildlife artist who works predominantly in oils. Combining vivid colours with bold brush strokes, alongside more intricate detail, Emma brings to life her passion for animals and birds. Wildlife is inextricably linked to its environment and other species and she uses colour to bring the subject and background together, reminding us how everything should be interconnected. Inspired by the natural world and the charities who strive to protect it, Emma is motivated to support vital conservation projects through the sales of her work.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Painted using only three colours, Heather Irvine had no preconception of how her painting would look other than it would be bull elephants very subtlety conversing about something we cannot hear and can only speculate upon. Heather’s inspiration was her thought that there is nothing better than watching a group of elephants interact and being able to immerse yourself in their world.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Heather Irvine is a wildlife artist producing bold and bright mixed media artworks in an abstract realism style. She is most known for her portrayals of Painted Dogs and for her movement based pieces. Heather contributes to various conservation organisations through the sale of her work whenever she can. A shortlisted DSWF WAY finalist for over ten years, Heather won BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year in 2012, as well as exhibiting with EWA and SWLA.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Schooling fish have always been a fascination for Alhaitham Jassar. This proved to be the inspiration for this oil on canvas painting. Alhaitham’s aim was to portray a group of sharks from a bottom to top view as they attacked a school of fish for their lunch.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Alhaitham Jassar is an American fine artist specialising in marine art, and is a member of the American Society of Marine Artists. His lifelong fascination with the aquatic world is intricately woven into his artistic talent. Through his work, Alhaitham aims to capture captivating moments of our underwater realm from unconventional perspectives, inviting viewers to revel in their awe and wonder. By doing so, he hopes to cultivate an appreciation for our endangered natural heritage, igniting awareness and action.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Painted onto copper and gold leaf, Malaurie Auliac’s work shows the beetle flying onwards, ready to face a huge and dangerous world. Malaurie has chosen to represent this vastness and danger by broken pieces of leaves.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Malaurie Auliac’s work is a journey through the fauna that she paints in a naturalistic style. Her bestiary appears encrusted in the gold that covers the background to the majority or her paintings, so to venerate these often abused creatures. Her art is a subtle demonstration of ancient skills (Malaurie was initially a heritage restorer) applied to a contemporary creation which breathes life into her paintings. Malaurie sees her paintings as an invitation to contemplate the creature displayed and a chance to engage in a dialogue with them.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

This hyper realistic drawing by Rachael Porosa observes a lioness gazing over at the rest of the pride. As the cubs play with the male, she is keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. Rachael’s detailed piece demonstrates the naturally protective nature of the lioness.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rachael Porosa is a portrait and wildlife artist based in South Devon. She discovered her talent for realism at aged 30 whilst working in forensic science, and subsequently left this career to pursue a life as a full time artist. Rachel strives to capture the tiniest of details in her work to faithfully express the reality of the subject. She believes realism in wildlife art helps to bring the viewer closer to the subject than they might ever get to be in real life.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Beverley closely watched the activities of Chacma baboons across Southern Africa and as a result she created this piece. This study of a baby and adult baboon shows wire at its most expressive, flowing between and uniting two forms. The sculpture demonstrates this closeness as a baby nonchalantly perches on its parent, who in turn accommodates the needs of them both.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Beverley has been wrangling wire into representations of wildlife for over 10 years. She lives in rural Kent amidst fruit orchards and vineyards. Beverley’s sculptures are created from a combination of upcycled and new wire of many different kinds. Each of her sculptures is unique and Beverley’s aim is to capture a fleeting pose, behaviour and character of her subject matter.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Polly Hosp’s stylised original print was inspired by the great migration. She observed, as the waters rose in the north and spread southwards, herds of plain’s game congregating and starting to move, staying ahead of the floodwater, searching for fresh grazing. Polly’s sensitive piece depicts how every year thousands of animals embark on a treacherous migration, with only the strongest surviving. In an edition of three, all with slight edition variants. Two unframed prints are available at £320. To purchase please contact us on way@davidshepherd.org or 01483 272323.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Polly Hosp’s practice is built on a deep connection with the fragile natural world and a passion for the environment. She captures unique wildlife moments with a focus on animal behaviour, movement and storytelling. Building on memories of the Kent countryside, plus over a decade living in the heart of the African bush, Polly’s aim is to engage the viewer in big conservation issues through simple joyful imagery. Drawing is at the heart of her practice, and printmaking is how Polly brings her artwork to life. She believes that line is integral, but the process is all about expression.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Rendered in chalk on black paper, a very pensive and suspicious gorilla looks out of Mike Pickett’s powerful drawing. The gorilla appears to be pondering his future and wondering what lies ahead.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Mike Pickett is a self-taught artist with a passion for impact. His black and white themed art, with the occasional splash of colour, largely draws inspiration from the animal world to bring attention to the ever growing need to protect endangered species and their habitats from the threat of today’s society. Working in chalk, Mike’s attention to detail and use of light and shadow combines in a unique way to capture the essence and emotion of each animal, and portrays the vulnerability of their place in wildlife today.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Inspired by the social behaviour of Chacma baboons and the incredible bonds formed by their family units led Lindy Cullen to paint her tonal watercolour ‘Daily Rituals’. In her painting Lindy shows two baboons grooming each other, demonstrating the obvious closeness of their bond.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Lindy Cullen was born in Zimbabwe and has a passion for animals, particularly African wildlife. Her favourite medium is watercolour, in which Lindy endeavours to capture the humour and character (without doing a preliminary sketch) of the animal she is portraying. Lindy is an ardent advocate for the conservation of endangered species, and a need for mankind to protect and preserve.