Facing Extinction

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

To Amber Tyldesley, the okapi is one of the most fascinating and beautiful animals on the planet. Threatened by illegal hunting and logging, it is thought that their population has halved over the last 20 years. In Amber’s sensitive painting she aims to capture the refined beauty and gentle nature of this elusive and endangered species.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Amber Tyldesley’s high-impact pieces celebrate the beauty of the natural world in striking detail. Working in acrylics, Amber builds her pieces in a series of layers to create a lively sense of depth, detail and luminosity. The interplay of light and colour play a key part in bringing a sense of life and individuality to every one of her subjects. Often incorporating high gloss resin, this allows Amber to achieve a heightened contrast and distinctive, contemporary finish to her work. Amber’s originals feature in private collections across the UK and internationally, including Europe, Canada, Australia and the USA.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Anisha’s watercolour painting aims to record the glorious lives of wild tigers as they would look in man’s faded and distant memory. Anisha prays that a time when wild tigers no longer exist will never come.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Anisha Heble celebrates the natural world through her art. She endeavours to capture the infinite beauty and energy of wildlife that is so fragile in today’s world. Anisha loves the fluidity and spontaneity of watercolou, along with the mastery required to control this medium to capture the undefined beauty of nature.  After spending over 20 years in advertising and design, Anisha now dedicates herself entirely to her passions of wildlife and painting, and donates part of her earnings through art towards conservation and animal care. Anisha lives and works in Dubai. 

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

This beautiful Mexican Wolf is the most endangered subspecies in the world. In his hyper-realistic monochrome drawing Alex Fleming was captivated by such a glorious image from which to work, and his challenge was in rendering the dissipated light, and the sleek fur of the wolf.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Alex Fleming creates realistic art because he enjoys the challenge of it, and finds it very fulfilling to succeed in doing a subject justice as it stands. Alex might alter the odd thing in an artistic rendition, but it is always subtle, and rare. The real, natural world is immensely interesting to him already, so he leaves imagined alternatives to those more appreciative of them. Nature covers a gamut of size, colour, personality and beauty which Alex feels should be worthy of anyone’s attention. It is also constantly changing, largely for the worse, so he choses to donate a portion of all of his wildlife sales to animal charities.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

This sculpture by Christy Symington is two-sided, to be viewed in the round and from both sides, with the scrolls hanging supported between two light wood lengths. With this piece Christy wanted to symbolise the corridors of land that link fragmented pockets of tiger populations and their prey so they can breed and feed across the Himalayan countries, between reserves in India, and in other tiger countries in the fight against extinction. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Sculptor Christy Symington lives in London. Across the body of her work she responds to imbalances – historical under-representation, socio-cultural/socio-political disparities and human versus nature tensions. Christy studied in Paris, New York Studio School with exchange to the Slade, has an MA from UAL London and a PGCE degree. Her sculptures are in Permanent Collections of UK Parliament, Royal Museums Greenwich and the International Slavery Museum. She is a Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors. Solo exhibitions include Stephen Lawrence Centre Gallery London, ‘Avril/Symington’ Marist College, NY, Angel Orensanz Foundation NYC and over a hundred group exhibitions – Royal Scottish, Cambrian and West of England.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Nicola Gillyon observes that orangutan share roughly 97% of our DNA, yet are facing extinction through deforestation, excessive logging and mining by humans. In her insightful drawing ‘Evanescing’, Nicola wanted to highlight their disappearance by simply allowing the face to fade to nothing, emphasising her thoughts that this is all that will be left of the orangutan if mankind continue on this path.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Nicola Gillyon is a wildlife artist who works predominantly in pencils. This choice of medium allows Nicola to build up multiple layers of tiny details to achieve a realistic appearance with a more contemporary look. Having drawn since childhood and with a love of animals, Nicola resurrected her drawing skills a few years ago. With a desire to challenge herself with her drawings, Nicola is venturing into creating conservation work, recognising that her work can help to raise awareness and inform others of the plight the natural world is facing, something that she hopes will eventually become her full workload.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

The inspiration for Julie Brunn’s evocative and calm painting ‘Dawn’ was the early morning sunrise before the heat burns, when wild dogs are starting to become active. Her painting shows the sun’s rays starting to skim the horizon, reflecting splashes of amber where day replaces night, the wild dog rising for the day, a long stretch, breathing in deeply and curling his long pink tongue.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Award winning animal artist Julie Brunn achieved a fine art degree from Birmingham School of Art in 2000, after which she pursued a career as an animal keeper working mostly with primates. Starting a family gave Julie the chance to rediscover her painting talents. Combining this with her love for animals and wildlife, Julie is able to capture the characters and personalities of her subjects in her unique ethereal style.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In Katy Rundle’s colourful and creatively detailed mixed media piece ‘Essential Worker’, a white backed African vulture looks to the sky for his kettle. Katy was inspired by these magnificent birds whilst living in Kenya, although her reference photo was taken at the Hawk Conservancy in Andover, UK. Katy’s aim through her artwork is to highlight the critical importance and beauty of the African vulture.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Katy Rundle is a British contemporary textile artist. Her business was founded in 2017 and she creates her pieces from a studio in Hampshire, UK. Katy is best known for her vibrant embroidered textile collages. An exhibitor at Talos Art Galley and at art fairs, Katy is in demand as a creator of bespoke, original commissions and her work is collected on both sides of the Atlantic. Shortlisted for the Women United Art Prize in 2022, Katy was also selected to compete in Sky Arts ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’ in 2018.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Bombus Reinigiellus is an endangered bumble bee, native to Europe. By using pink and purple watercolours with raised gold acrylic, Rachel McPhail’s painting seeks to capture the delicate nature of the the individual bees whilst combining the complexity and movement of the swarm as they act together.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rachel is a London based artist who is interested in trying to capture the beauty of wildlife, with a particular interest in painting animals with bold patterns and colouring. Through the use of changing tones and simplified forms, Rachel is currently focused on trying to provide a sense of movement and life in her paintings. She uses a range of mediums, including acrylic and watercolour, in combination with a raised gold acrylic paint to create a textured effect and to add dimension to her pieces. 

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Ratna Sari’s highly detailed drawing in graphite on Strathmore heavyweight paper, is an observed rendering of the endangered rhino. Ratna hopes that this drawing will raise awareness that rhino numbers have dropped to an estimated all time low of c.27,000.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Ratna is a wildlife illustrator from Seattle, WA. She grew up reading illustrated books about animals and fell in love with visual art. Ratna feels her creativity is best expressed using graphite pencil. After a break of some years, Ratna was reunited with her love of drawing during the global pandemic of 2020. She concentrates on creating visual depth by applying contrast and capturing details, and with each pencil stroke she aims to tell stories of her subjects. It is Ratna’s hope that her artwork will capture the viewer’s attention and inspire a passion for safeguarding our wildlife.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Lieze Meyer observes that we tend to be more aware of the big mammals that are facing extinction. With this oil painting on canvas Lieze wanted to highlight a lesser recognised member on the Critically Endangered List, the White Headed Vulture. Her dramatic composition contrasts the small vulture against the larger non-endangered marabou stork as the vulture fights for it’s rights, and Lieze hopes her painting will help to highlight it’s endangered status.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Lieze Meyer has a BA graphic design degree but has pursued painting in oils for the past 15 years. Lieze aims to capture a fleeting moment whilst telling a story through her art. Shape, movement and mood are all elements which drive her to create from her studio in the wilderness in Zambia where she currently lives. By creating these wildlife images, she strives to make her audience aware of the beauty hidden within the more unknown and not so often painted creatures of this planet.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Penel Kirk’s sepia-toned mixed media piece was inspired by the plight of these highly trafficked, exquisite and endangered creatures. In her painting Penel has depicted the pangolin going about his business with no threat to anyone or anything. Penel chose to paint the pangolin on a simple background so as not to detract from the beauty and complexity of the scales and delicate face.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Penel Kirk studied fashion and textile design at St Martin’s School of Art in the 1980’s and worked as a textile designer until 2000 when she started working as a fine artist alongside her commercial work. Based in her Cotswold studios, Penel works in acrylic, watercolour pencil, liquid graphite and gouache to create her mixed media animal portraits. As a wildlife artist Penel feels passionately that her work can help to highlight the plight of the thousands of endangered species and, through donations from sales of the artwork, she can help support the vital conservation work of DSWF.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Having both a hot and cool palette, this study by Catherine Ingleby of a Sosian elephant is an exploration of colour and form, while capturing the undeniably substantial weight and power of these animals. This painting was developed from sketches Catherine made in the field at Sosian, Northern Kenya and it was her aim with the painting to focus on the beautiful tones of colour that play across the elephant’s skin as the sun set. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Catherine Ingleby spent several years training as an artist in Paris and Florence, accumulating a solid basis of draughtsmanship on which to base her now instantly recognisable style of dramatic light and movement. Catherine now works full time in her studio in Berkshire, with a plethora of pets that both aid and abet her. She is known for her contemporary take on traditional subjects, and her ability to capture the fleeting sense of movement in her work.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

The inspiration for Tammy Walters’ colourful and striking painting, portraying two brave lions defending their pride, came from her missing the closeness of human connection during lockdown. She feels it is extremely worrying that there are now only 20,000 lions left in the wild and it is Tammy’s belief that we need to both protect and make people aware of the dwindling numbers of the mighty lion.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Based in Lancashire, UK, Tammy Walters is a modern contemporary British artist, who works predominantly in acrylic and ink and in a bold and illustrative painting style. Tammy’s artistic development has been strongly influenced by her passion for animals, her strong bond with her family, and by her love of music. Her work has sold internationally and Tammy has many collectors worldwide. 

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Luke Broadbent is deeply saddened to see the devastation that man is causing to the majestic rhino. The message in Luke’s highly detailed, sensitive drawing is to demonstrate the animal’s beauty and he hopes that the more people that see his drawing, the more awareness can be raised in highlighting this devastation.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Luke Broadbent has an enormous passion for drawing, which began at a young age from watching his Grandad. Following in his Grandad’s footsteps, Luke became a self-taught hyper-realism pencil artist around 10 years ago. Luke has recently teamed up with Laziba Wildlife Reserve in South Africa to provide the reserve with a unique drawing and will continue to work with them in raising funds for the conservation and preservation of some of the world’s most endangered animals.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Porcupines are the victim of increasingly active poaching. They are hunted for bezoars, which are lumps of undigested food found in their bowels and used in some traditional Asian medicines. Pascale has created her endearingly rotund bronze sculpture ‘Porkipic’ in the hope that he does not join the list of endangered species. Edition of 8. Only one available for sale.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Pascale Benéteau has always wanted to discover the world. As a young woman she decided to go to Africa, where she settled for few years. Later, her path led her to India and then on to Japan. It was in Japan that she discovered clay modelling which quickly became a passion. Self-taught, Pascale does not follow any particular trend, her years abroad influencing her mark and defining her style, which is very recognisable today. In 2022 she was awarded the Prize François Pompon for all of her work. Currently Pascale is living and working in Normandy.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Sadie Aucott’s striking artwork captures the direct gaze of a infant gorilla clinging to his mother. Her use of selective and dynamic cropping heightens the strength of this connection and this piece is interwoven to create texture and capture the infant’s expression. This artwork is made entirely from silver and grey florist’s wire. It is Sadie’s hope that her art is successful in persuading a viewer to start seeing animals as sentient beings, and treating them accordingly. 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Sadie Aucott is a wire artist who has developed a way of working with fine-gauge florist’s binding wire in order to create monochrome 2D images which combine her love of drawing and animals. Sadie is an award winning artist, having been awarded the Innovation Award at the 2018 In:Sight exhibition and The Emerging Artist award in the 2D category at Creates Gallery in Monmouth in 2020. 

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In his insightful painting Andy observes that with age comes the wisdom that hopefully helps us make more sense of the world around us. Andy feels that perhaps things that seemed important in our younger years are now issues that cause us little concern or worry. It is his sincere hope that we can all one day live in harmony.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Andy Caddick is a self taught realism artist who specialises in the portrayal of some the world’s most beautiful animals. He is also one of very few UK artists who specialise in airbrush photo-realism. Working from his studio at home in the West Midlands, Andy has achieved success across mainstream galleries in the UK.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In this chalk drawing on black paper which depicts a mother lioness carrying her precious cub, Mike Pickett’s aim is to demonstrate the unerring love and protection a mother lioness provides for her young cubs. Mike observes that lion populations are facing huge threats, and hopes this drawing will inspire lion conservation.

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

With her pastel drawing Stella Mays wanted to blend the tiger into the wild Amur forest, rather than just create a portrait, and by doing so contrast the sparseness of the habitat with his mighty form. Stella felt that doing this would serve as a subtle reminder of the challenge a tiger faces maintaining prime condition in an ever disappearing territory.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Stella Mays is a self taught pastel artist. She has painted a wide range of subjects over the years and is increasingly motivated by a desire to create dynamic and original compositions which demonstrate a strong sense of colour. Stella’s fascination with the form and grace of her subjects is matched by a passion for the wild places they inhabit. She finds painting to be an escape from the congestion of the modern world but feels nature’s sanctuaries are today under threat. Communicating the wonder of these places and joining the fight to protect them are an integral part of Stella’s work.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Steve Nayar’s primary concern is to highlight the numerous species that need our help. Typically, his engaging painting ‘Chimpanzee’, depicts the subject staring out at the viewer. Steve observes that along with bonobos, chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing about 99% of our DNA. It is a great worry for Steve that these creatures are facing extinction as the innocent victims of hunting for bushmeat, habitat loss and degradation.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Steve Nayar is a painter living and working in Totnes, Devon. He originally trained to be an art teacher at Nottingham Trent University but after graduating forged an award-winning career in design and advertising. Steve always had a love of animals and became increasingly concerned about the growing loss of the planet’s biodiversity. So much so that Steve has focused his work on creating realistic paintings of endangered species in oils, specifically head and shoulders, gazing out at the viewer, sometimes imploring, sometimes challenging. His paintings are in private collections in the UK and overseas.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Although not an endangered species in it’s own right, Steve Smith’s stark painting ‘Homeless’ depicts an Amazonian Tree Frog with it’s natural environment removed; a situation Steve feels we are frighteningly and inevitably to be heading towards.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Steve Smith (a.k.a. Smyth) is a self taught artist predominantly working in oil and pastel. Smyth is fascinated by the intricacies and beauty of wildlife and tries with his artworks to convey these aspects to the viewer by utilising painstaking detail.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Sandra Vick observed kittiwakes building amazing nests, precariously balanced on the brick ledges of the walls of Dunbar Castle, Scotland. Sandra recognises that a combination of climate change and fishing methods means kittiwakes are being pushed closer than ever to extinction and she feels need to protect this vulnerable bird. It was her intention through her monochrome painting to draw attention to the plight of this native bird.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

In her studio based near the Pentlands and Edinburgh, Sandra Vick is well known for her black and white paintings of birds. Using only silhouettes, Sandra works in layers to capture moments in time and to capture to the essence of her subject matter.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Carina Kramer’s sensitive oil painting of this very elusive mammal has the okapi in question melt into the shadow, perfectly visualizing its endangered status. In her painting, Carina utilises the deep darkness surrounding the okapi to leave the viewer no other option than to look right at it as it grasps onto its fading presence on earth.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Carina Kramer is a German oil and watercolour artist who focuses on African big cats and other wildlife. Her work combines realism with minimalistic aspects and has been exhibited in various countries all over the world, always aiming to support conservation. Her work has been selected as part of the DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition for 5 years, as well as being part of the ARC salon contest and the AFC festival. Behind the scenes Carina loves to spend time in nature especially the African bush where she has found her second (or first) home. 

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Nathalie Daigles’s monochromatic painting demonstrates how this young elephant’s agile nose is sensitive, calling out for light to nourish growth. Beneath it’s great size there is a life, a heartbeat. This thought struck Nathalie as a bold truth and she feels it sheds some light on how closely we are related to these amazing animals.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Biology studies and scenic art emerged as Nathalie Daigle’s first interests, these two fields stemming from her deep love of nature and art. Creating has evolved into an expression of Nathalie’s inner connection to nature, in which she expresses life as our being our common core. With close-ups of elephant skins that tell stories about how tightly connected our life cycles are, she demonstrates her exceptional sensitivity. As a wildlife lover and environmental artist, Nathalie’s artwork clearly asserts that the need for connection with the wild is part of human nature. She feels that to encounter the wild has an impact on mankind, that impact being humility.