Wildlife Artist of the Year
Welcome to our Finalists’ gallery for Wildlife Artist of the Year 2023. Our judges whittled over 1,400 pieces down to 157 for final exhibition, below are the shortlisted artworks and winners.
Please show your support for your favourite artist and artwork by voting in the DSWF People’s Choice Award below.
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION
Rhythm Ghai feels God has created an array of mesmerizing marine life and that it is the responsibility of mankind to conserve their natural habitat. Through her highly detailed and intricate drawing, Rhythm has aimed to create awareness and to help save these amazing sea creatures from becoming extinct.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Rhythm Ghai is a self taught artist from India. Rhythm works with a flair to create artworks which highlight the problems of global warming and animal extinction. She likes to work in black and white and in a variety of mediums. Taking part in a number of national and international exhibitions, Rhythm is keen to keep developing her creative skills. She believes that as an artist she is a teller of stories and that this is her creative journey.
In high altitudes and high latitudes, the first indication of spring is often a change in the quality of light. In her limited edition, original print ‘Equinox’, Sarah Drummond was inspired, as a circumpolar alpine species, by the Willow Ptarmigan, finding them to be a perfect and poignant subject for that moment when the balance begins to shift toward light and summer. This original print is produced in an edition of 12 and there are additional editions available for sale (£1,300 unframed). Please contact way@davidshepherd.org or 01483 272323 for details.
Sarah Drummond is a Colorado artist enthralled by the natural world that surrounds her. Working mainly from life, in the field, she paints (often through binoculars), before returning to her studio to translate these images into linocuts. Sarah spends her summers in south east Alaska as a wilderness guide, and her winters with her family in south western Colorado, USA.
Georgia Lancaster’s colourful and delicate painting depicts all 62 UK butterfly species, with each one shown to scale. In the painting Georgia has shown abstract butterflies -line drawings with the colours fading into the background – to represent the species that are currently threatened or endangered, along with those painted in gold representing those species already extinct. Georgia observes that if things don’t change very soon, all these beautiful species will disappear and be gone forever.
Georgia Lancaster is a 23 year old self-taught artist working from her home studio in the Yorkshire countryside. Georgia has been creating art since childhood and has been passionate about animals and the environment from an early age. Georgia gets her inspiration from spending time outdoors surrounded by nature and her aim is to create paintings that portray the unique beauty of different animals and highlights environmental issues. Working with acrylic paint and mixed media, and including aspects of abstract and realism in her art, Georgia brings all this together to create a beautiful, cohesive result.
Paul Eaton’s sculpture is inspired by his fascination with flight. Paul finds watching murmurations to be one of nature’s finest displays, the swooping and swirling of the numerous birds flying together to create the shape-shifting clouds to be mesmerising. He also observes that such large gatherings of smaller birds often attract raptors to take advantage of this fact. This is what Paul aimed to capture in his sculpture, the raptor being highlighted glistening above.
Paul Eaton is a goldsmith and silversmith by trade who also has a lifelong interest in wildlife. Paul’s sculptures reflect this interest, whilst showcasing the detail he uses when making jewellery. Birds of prey have always be a speciality of his, their flight in particular. Paul’s use of bronze and silver contrasts and reflects the different elements of his work. Constantly inspired by the natural world around him, Paul continues to find subjects he can portray in his work.
It was the innocence and expression shown in this Amur leopard cub that inspired Conor Smith create his highly detailed scratchboard piece ‘Big Yawn’. Conor felt that the expression of fatigue on the cub’s face was appropriate in showing the tiredness this cat will feel in the fight to live its life.
Conor Smith is a UK based artist who specialises in the medium of scratchboard. He uses sharp tools such as craft knives and tattoo needles to scratch away the top layer of indian ink, revealing the white clay board beneath. He strives to create interesting and photorealistic pieces that have strong contrast and dramatic lighting. Conor is a part-time artist, spending the majority of his time working as a paramedic for the NHS and studying for his Masters Degree in Advanced Clinical Practice.
Sarah Meikle has loved the vulnerable pangolin since she bought one in 2008, saving it from the cooking pot and releasing it along a wild stretch of river while she was enroute in a canoe to her northern DRC plantation destination. It is Sarah’s sincere hope that safe refuges can be created for the endangered pangolin in truly wild but protected parts of Africa.
Sarah Meikle is passionate about conservation, photography and painting and has managed to combine them into her life choices. Growing up on the family farm in the picturesque Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, and following a Fine Art degree in South Africa, she returned to her home area and to farming. Following the land invasions Sarah moved to the DRC to develop rubber plantations in the wilds of central and northern Congo. Sarah has now settled as a director of an integrated wildlife and cattle ranch www.gamamwe.com in Zambia which has allowed her more time to focus on conservation, painting and photography.
Katerina Sonntagova is inspired by the deep blue world of False Bay, South Africa and recalls how, as a freediver, meeting whales underwater was an incredible privilege. This experience inspired Katerina to create her tonal blue watercolour painting ‘Hope’. The encounters Katerina has experienced whilst freediving fills her with hope that mankind are capable of treating this beautiful world with nothing but love and kindness.
Growing up in the Jeseniky Mountains of the north-east Czech Republic, an entire country stood between Katerina Sonntagova and the nearest ocean shore. From this distance, the sea was something murky and abstract – something to be feared. In 2018, a few years after moving to South Africa, Katerina finally gave in to her desire for full ocean immersion. Her first snorkel literally took her breath away. Katerina hopes her art will inspire others to step into the thrilling unknown and transform fear into love and positive action to help protect the ocean and its inhabitants, something that all of mankind depend upon.
Elizabeth Faul’s mixed media collage represents the plastic, paper and other detritus which humans thoughtlessly scatter everywhere, forever impacting formerly pristine environments. As wild things have to adapt to rapidly degrading landscapes and disappearing living spaces, it is Elizabeth’s desire to provoke thought and dialogue about how humans could behave to reduce their impact on animals.
Elizabeth Faul has been a lettering artist for 35 years and a visual artist for 22 years. She trained formally as a professional calligrapher in the UK, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Graphic Design at the University of Canberra. Elizabeth won the CCAS Members’ Exhibition in 2016, the NOW Shoalhaven Contemporary Prize in 2013.
This painting of a solitary iceberg floating serenely in a mirror-still sea at twilight evokes for the artist, Nick Jones, something of the sublime beauty of the Arctic. However Nick observes that ‘Solitary Berg at Twilight’ also carries for him a sense of unease at the rapidly increasing impacts of man-made climate change on the polar regions.
Nicholas Jones is a UK based painter whose work explores our relationship with the natural world. Nick’s paintings address themes of connection, vulnerability, intimacy, trust, longing, wonder and silence. His paintings are rooted in a deep desire to be more present to the endless encounters, both intimate and sublime, that come towards us when we step outdoors with hearts and eyes that are wide open. His iceberg paintings offer a haunting glimpse of the fragility and magnificence of the Arctic, a region of our world under immense stress because of global heating, and on whose wellbeing we all depend.
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION: Catherine Ingleby’s oil painting is a large study of part of a pride of lions as they bask in the evening light of the Masai Mara. Catherine wanted, through the warmth and glow of her painting, to convey that feeling of relaxation within the family dynamic that is so unique to a group of lions.
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.
Humans have long destroyed the homes of orangutans for their gain. In Ophelia Redpath’s oil painting we see an orangutan, faced with a chainsaw and leaving it well alone. Ophelia illustrates that never in a million years would the thought occur to an orangutan to topple a forest and its inhabitants.
Ophelia Redpath has followed a career as a painter since 1986. The subject and style of her work has evolved from abstract, experimental beginnings, to mixed media celebrations of humanity, now focusing entirely on questioning the broken links between human civilisation and the natural world. Ophelia’s current oil paintings express a mix of grief, optimism and humour, with an attempt to visualise how these links can be recognised and reinvigorated. Her book ‘The Lemur’s Tale’ was nominated for the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal, and Ophelia won Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year in 2021.
This creative sculpture by Camila Echavarria depicts a guayacan tree and huge ceibas surrounded by native birds. From whichever side the piece is viewed there are barcodes to be seen that transform into forest. Inspired by the works of Garcia Marquez, Camilla hopes to inspire appreciation of nature with a reminder to cherish the trees, birds and nature.
Camila Echavarria is a Colombian artist who draws inspiration from her profound connection to the vibrant jungles and diverse ecosystems of her native country. With a background in product design engineering, Camila explores materials and perspectives that bring art to life. Her works reflect the rich flora and fauna of Colombia, with a focus on plants, birds, and their interplay. Through merging opposing concepts, Camila creates nature-rooted art characterised by simplified shapes, repetitive patterns and Fibonacci principles. Her compositions are primarily black and white, punctuated by bursts of the tropical colours that attract birds. Celebrating resilience, Camila’s art transcends boundaries, capturing the essence of the Tropic and its cultural heritage.
At Cape Kidnappers, New Zealand, Amandine Deschamps observed a colony of Australasian gannets. Amongst the crowd, a lost chick stood out, this relatable feeling being the inspiration for her entry. Portraying the life stages and different behaviours – greetings of paired gannets, feeding offspring, flying birds returning home – it is Amandine’s hope the viewers feel this overwhelming ambience.
Amandine Deschamps is a 17-year-old French high school student who is living in Dubai and studying under the IB diploma. Amandine frequently experiments in art, often combining mediums to enjoy a dynamic artistic process. Taking inspiration from the landscapes and wildlife seen on her family trips, Amandine uses scraps of newspapers to emulate the textures and present her image to the viewer.
Jess Pritchard’s inspiration for ‘Ghost’ came from earth’s vast and spectacular landscapes, especially that of the Himalayan region where the elusive snow leopard resides. Roaming the wilderness, the snow leopard is spotted only by a lucky few, mostly in winter when their prey is forced down the mountainside. When summer comes, like a ghost, they disappear back to the peaks.
Jess Pritchard is a multi-award winning wildlife conservation artist who works solely in pencil. Since beginning her professional art career, she has taken part in many exhibitions including those held in London’s Mall Galleries and Oxo Tower and a solo exhibition at Worcester Cathedral. Jess is an artist ambassador for Derwent Art, Britain’s largest pencil brand, and has also raised thousands of pounds for various wildlife charities through her supporters and collectors worldwide. She recently launched her own wildlife fund to support select conservation projects including Painted Dog Conservation through the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
When we see a baby animal or species like an adorable koala, the insinct of mankind is immediately captivated by its sweetness and vulnerability. This is what Geraldine Simmons aspired to highlight in her sensitive drawing ‘Avalon Was Home’. Geraldine feels that vulnerability is something that every sentient being is born with and it provokes our instinct to protect them.
Artists For Conservation signature member Geraldine Simmons lives and works from her home studio at Collaroy in Sydney, Australia. During her travels to the deep jungles of Borneo, the eyes of the orangutans and exquisite beauty of Indonesian wildlife captivated her. That life-changing experience in 2005 inspired Geraldine to raise funds and awareness for endangered wildlife. Spanning over thirty-three years, Geraldine has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her notable exhibitions include the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, the virtual Artists for Conservation Annual Exhibit and Festival Canada, Sketch for Survival Art Auction London, and ENDANGERED Art4Apes Florida.
David Skidmore recalls it has been many years since he had an encounter with the magical sea turtle, yet it is a memory that never leaves him. His sensitively rendered monochrome drawing was inspired by David’s thinking that, at a time when our world seems anything but calm, the thought of these gentle giants floating through the sea gives him peace. It is David’s hope that his drawing has the same effect on others.
An award winning artist, David Skidmore works mainly in pencil but enjoys experimenting with most mediums. Painting and drawing is what inspires him, David hopes his work will in turn inspire others. He aims to produce work that is informative and at times thought provoking. David is a regular artist in residence at Nature in Art, Gloucestershire.
Colin Welden’s delicate watercolour is part of his series of studies of meerkats and how they present themselves to the viewer. After much watching, Colin has observed that whether it be upright or seated a meerkat is always alert and aware of its surroundings.
After a career of some 55 years in the graphics industry, Colin reverted to his art school training and began to paint again, with most of his work now being in watercolour. Colin has found painting to be a respite from life, and it gives him great comfort and pleasure to create a watercolour that others seem to enjoy.
This fun and striking sculpture by Bastien Bonhomme, depicts three gibbons, one behind the other in typical gibbon poses, on the run following the theft of important loot. Edition of 5 (one available).
Born in 1990, Bastien Bonhomme is a graduate of engineering school. In 2018, driven by an irrepressible need to indulge in a manual activity, he turned to sculpture. His technique and meticulousness are a prelude to his need for creation. Bastien likes working with textures, to create movement. Very close to human expressions, his subjects expressions surprise us and call us deeply to mind. Somewhere between strength and delicacy, depth and candour, his sculptures move us and speak for themselves.
Jack Haslam’s appealing original monochrome print observes the behaviour of a maternal anteater. Jack’s clean, stylised line portrays a female anteater, having given birth to one offspring, going about her day with baby riding on her back for the first months of its life. Curiosity, however, leads it to occasionally venture off…
This original print is produced in an edition of three and two additional prints are available for sale (unframed £180) which can be purchased by contacting us at way@davidshepherd.org or 01483 272323.
Born in Central London in 1990, Jack Haslam trained in printmaking at City Lit. Jack’s love of animals is a major influence in Jack’s life and a driving force for his work: “what others might consider minor and unimportant details are the things that inspire me. I am fascinated by the minutiae of different animals: the gorilla’s cheeks and the anteater’s claws. My cognitive problems mean that I have difficulty relating to humans. I find them unfathomable at times. Animals help me manage my feelings of isolation and allow me to build bridges with people.”
Rita Wu demonstrates the opportunity someone gets from their first paycheck, represented by insects. Experimenting with symbolism, Rita includes a money (fruit) tree showing prosperity and wealth, a caterpillar representing growth and transformation and a crowned bee in a purple suit (the colour of royalty) reflecting the position of being a boss and having higher power.
Born in 2007, Rita is an avid enthusiast of the insect world. Her profound fascination with bees began at an early age and has since become a driving force behind her artistic creations, and she takes inspiration from the intricate beauty of these creatures, Rita combines her passion for insects with her drawing and painting skills to create captivating works of art. Employing subtle yet powerful symbolism, Rita often incorporates visual metaphors into her work to strengthen the message she wants to convey.
Being sensitive to their environment, Justin observes that birds are a good indicator of the health of a particular ecosystem. In his paintings, Justin combines aggressive, abstract brushstrokes and textures with realistically rendered birds to create spaces that give the impression of erosion, change and isolation, whilst at the same time informing the viewer about their environmental fragility. Here Justin depicts a red breasted nuthatch peeking out in search of the pines.
Justin Kellner’s love of the outdoors led him to birding. He is fascinated by the process of spotting and identifying birds and by the complex ways they relate to their ecosystems. His abstraction draws on memories from his birding excursions as well as from the landscape of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula where he grew up. Justin lives in Grand Rapids where he paints full time. He hopes sharing his experiences in nature will encourage others to explore.
Rénald Pierre’s sculpture ‘Orang Outan (Pongo Pygmaeus)’ was originally made made in terracotta and this is it’s bronze reproduction. Depicting the head of an Orang Outan emerging from an abstract base which forms the stand, this piece has a gentle but strong presence.
Rénald Pierre began his career working as a stonemason. At the same time as he was learning stone carving, Rénald was also developing his skills in sculpture and modelling clay. Following a degree in art history, Rénald decided to devote himself exclusively to sculpture, and studied its different techniques in greater depth. His works are most often inspired by the animal world. His work has featured in numerous galleries and museums such as Absolute Art Gallery, Brugge.
Olivia Fregoso’s gentle and delicate monchrome watercolour painting shows the close relationship between a whale and it’s calf. It was Olivia’s hope that her painting would convey the feeling of greatness of being a mother full of both tenderness and power.
Olivia Fregoso was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. An animal lover since she was little, her interest in taking care of them and learning from them has not stopped growing. Olivia loves to express herself through painting and illustration techniques, some of her favourites being watercolour, oil and pointillism. Skilled in graphic and editorial design, Olivia has illustrated books in the United States and Mexico. She believes that it is important to teach children respect for animals and to care for them and the environment.
‘Lifetime Partnership’ depicts a male (L) and female (R) Bateleur Eagle pair on the Kruger savannah. David feels his painting is aptly titled as Bateleurs mate for life. His painting provides a visual interpretation of the dominance that the female has over her mate, depicting a disciplinary conversation between the two partners.
David was in born in 1977 and brought up in Bristol, UK, where he currently lives with his wife and two children, working as a Building Services Manager for a large main contractor in the UK. In his spare time David is a very keen bird artist, which originally stemmed from his interest in ornithology and nature from when he was a young boy. He has, when the opportunity has arisen, travelled to some very remote locations, usually with his father, to photograph wildlife and birds and in particular he has a passion for raptors and owls, which he loves to paint.
