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
This original limited edition monotone etching by Guy Allen is one of a series of etchings Guy has produced from studying the deer herd in Gunton Park, North Norfolk. Depicting the majestic antlers displayed by these glorious creatures, this is one of an edition of 75 prints. There are further editions available (unframed £650) which can be purchased by contacting us at way@davidshepherd.org or 01483 272323.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Guy Allen is an experimental printmaker and draughtsman who works from his studio on the North Norfolk coast in the UK. His trademark experimental approach to printmaking presents an exciting mix of colour and gold-leaf, teamed with an original, contemporary take on etching.
Ze Ze Lai’s delicate and striking portrait of an anteater was created as a monochrome watercolour, capturing a unique and organic look that flows seamlessly across the paper. Ze Ze’s artistic flair gives this painting a sense of dimension and motion whilst also portraying the solitary nature of the anteater.
Ze Ze Lai is an acclaimed watercolour artist from Hong Kong. She draws inspiration from nature, and her expertise is in painting animals and birds. Ze Ze adopts an impressive range of styles in her art practice. From painting soft and dream-like scenes of small birds in the forests, to her use of bold dynamic strokes and granulating textures, she takes her viewers on a journey of imagining the peculiar lives and small moments of the little animals in nature. Ze Ze has received numerous awards for her paintings, her works have been widely exhibited around the world.
In this piece Kaitlyn Stanton observes that despite being hunted nearly to extinction, buffalo have prevailed and continue to graze the plains of South Dakota. She considers her painting to be a case aganst the myth of ‘manifest destiny’ and an homage to the Badlands National Park.
Kaitlyn Stanton (b. 2004) is a Korean-American artist based in Providence, RI and the Washington metropolitan area. She is a second-year student at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she will complete her BFA in Illustration. Kaitlyn’s work primarily explores natural themes through digital painting, oil, and ballpoint pen. Her work has been displayed in group exhibitions at Carnegie Hall, NY (2022) and Brown University Hillel, RI (2023).
Mike Pickett’s powerful, birds-eye-view chalk drawing on black paper is of an incredibly important predator of the great oceans. It is Mike’s belief that without sharks the whole oceanic ecosystem is altered and as such poses a great threat to oceanic wildlife across the whole food chain.
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.
In her oil painting Ophelia Redpath expresses what she feels so many humans must feel when confronted by the devastation they have unwittingly caused to a beautiful, bewildered, sentient being. Despite being endangered by human actions and being in need of a home, the creature depicted is incapable of blame.
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.
Anastasia Mattern has drawn in highly realistic detail the featherless head and ruffed neck of the Andean condor. She has then carefully cut out her drawing and placed it against a black paper background offering the viewer an intimate portrait of the world’s largest flying bird. Anastasia was inspired to create her work to highlight the declining numbers of this species caused by habitat loss.
Anastasia Mattern is an artist and illustrator based in Hamburg, Germany. Working primarily in ink and coloured pencils, she enjoys creating detailed animal and botanical drawings that portray the beautiful complexity of the natural world. With her passion for wildlife, Anastasia gears her work towards educating about the environment, contributing to well-founded science and nature magazines.
In her painting, Melanie harnesses the patterns, colours, shapes and textures of a living soundscape to describe the interconnectedness between inhabitants of this small Welsh island and the sea. She depicts the voices, the movement, the rhythm and the energy of seabird colonies, together with the wind and waves, to create an ecosystem of soundmarks. It is Melanie’s belief that this is a fragile balance that needs protecting.
Melanie Mascarenhas is a UK based artist and naturalist whose practice is informed by a love of direct, considered, observational fieldwork and an intimate connection with wildlife in its environment. Her unique, firsthand wildlife encounters are brought to life through expressive painting, drawing and printmaking. Melanie’s work shares the interconnection between organisms and their fragile ecosystems through the interplay of colour, movement and sound drawing, creating a visual representation of the rhythm and energy of the places and experiences that inspire her.
Tamara Pokorny recalls how getting close to a ghost crab takes patience (and indeed sometimes a wet belly). However, her patience and sogginess paid off and she loves the way the evening sun made this little ghost crab’s shadow larger than life. Tamara considers her scratchboard and ink rendering to be an analogy reminding her about how small things can loom large, for both good or ill.
From iconic species to lesser known or even disliked ones, scratchboard artist Tamara Pokorny depicts animals in extraordinary detail, showcasing the beauty of the creatures that share the world with mankind. Tamara is inspired by the intricacies of a subject you can only see when looking closely, the way the sum of all the small things amount to, and shapes, the whole. Tamara observes that as we often don’t take time to look at detail, she invites the viewer to look a little closer and immerse themselves in a moment in time.
Shoji Terada’s mission is wildlife conservation through art. He feels that while there is much tragic and sad news in wildlife conservation, he paints to highlight the challenges faced by wildlife but in as positive and fun way as is possible. This lively and colourful piece demonstrates this belief.
Shoji Terada is a painter, animal lover, and conservationist. Since being fascinated by wildlife during his honeymoon in South Africa in 2014, Shoji has launched STM STUDIO with his wife Momoko, and has passionately created artworks that combines the beauty and adorableness of wildlife with the importance of conservation. Today, he provides his art and designs to about 50 organizations and activists in about 20 countries to raise awareness and help them raise funds.
Young Jang’s delicate rendition sets out to demonstrate that life for a small porcupine fish in the ocean is harder than one thinks. Her painting depicts the little fish’s defence reaction of showing its spines to anything that surprises it.
Young Jang is currently a student living in Pohang, a city in the southern part of South Korea. Though only a couple of years since Young discovered her passion for art, the passion is strong. Harbouring a dream to become an artist who can heal the hearts of others through her art, Young feels honoured to be a finalist in WAY 2023.
ARTWORK DESCRIPTION:
Jia Ying Khor’s drawing ‘Stolen Innocence’ portrays a baby elephant robbed of a wild upbringing, trained for circus and zoo performances and made garish with makeup. In stark contrast to the elephant’s innocent expression and natural beauty, this sensitive drawing evokes a sense of loss and betrayal, emphasising the importance of wildlife conservation and protecting animals’ rights.
Jia Ying Khor was born in 2003 and raised in Malaysia, eventually going on to pursue a major in arts at the Edinburgh College of Art. Her artworks primarily focus on wildlife, specialising in the realistic style. She likes to delve into legends and literature, seeking meaningful connections from these realms into her creations. Her artworks have been exhibited and featured in publications including The Artist Magazine. Through her ongoing artistic journey, she aims to challenge conventional norms and provoke meaningful conversations.
‘The Journey’ by Karen Laurence-Rowe, is a tribute to the dead and dying giraffe suffering the terrible drought in North Kenya. Whilst Karen’s painting, with its striking verdigris palette, looks to be abstract, on closer inspection there are various references to giraffe. Through this painting Karen sadly observes climate change is causing terrible suffering – and that wildlife will be the first to die.
A past winner of Wildlife Artist of the Year, Karen Laurence-Rowe has, for many years, used her art to raise funds for conservation, raising over £100,000 for conservation projects close to her heart throughout her career. Karen is a self-taught artist, mainly working in oil and watercolour to develop her unique style which has become much sought after by her art collectors. Karen has lived in Africa all her life and has watched her subjects dwindle exponentially as the human population grows. “It is a race against time to save the endangered species of the world but the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is a good place to start!”
