Wings

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Ze Ze Lai’s evocative sepia-toned watercolour painting illustrates how the Yellow River captivates man with stunning displays of nature’s magnificence. In her painting Ze Ze acknowledges how the river plays a crucial role in sustaining the wildlife that inhabits the surrounding area and provides essential sustenance and habitat for a wealth of wildlife including birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, offering shelter from predators and becoming a sanctuary for endangered species.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

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 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.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Stephanie Cunningham’s elegant sculpture was created response to the artist’s despair at witnessing these majestic and super skilful birds floundering and dying on Cornish beaches from Avian flu last summer. It is Stephanie’s hope that this piece can represent the spirit of so many of our beautiful sea birds who have suffered and continue to do so.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Stephanie Cunningham’s work is rooted in the natural world and is an expression of her deep love and respect for all animals and birds. The ceramic forms she creates are stylised to emphasise power, elegance and grace. Stephanie has a love of wild places, especially Scotland where she grew up, and of West Cornwall where she now lives and works, walking the coast paths and woodlands observing the wildlife she finds. Stephanie is self-taught, having previously worked in theatre. It was on moving to Cornwall in 1998 that she discovered a love of working in clay.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In her painting ‘Love. Light. Wren.’ Priya Gore pays tribute to the abstract quality of change and the abstract illusion of the passage of time. She feels that the wrens speak of changes of season and the acceptance of changes in life with an open heart and open arms. The purple capped wren is one of the most illusive North Australian bird species.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Priya Gore observes how the Australian rainforests offer the abundance of natural wonder and how bush walks and coastal hikes replace the emptiness of the soul with a long-lasting creative energy. Priya’s life revolves around the exploration of nature’s intricacies that are often hidden in the obvious. Being in nature amongst the beautiful birds, animals and trees of the rainforest and the ocean has had a profound effect on the artist’s mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Priya tries to convey her deep love and passion towards nature through her practice of painting which she believes is impossible to express in any other form.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Tim Hastilow’s work is inspired by his passion for nature, conservation and wildlife. This pen and ink wash drawing of a vulture, ‘Spirit of 77’, is named due to the vulture’s facinating head feathers which Tim created as a homage to the 1977’s punk rock. When creating this piece, Tim chose to listen to ‘The Damned’, one of his favourite bands of this era which further inspired the Rock ‘n’ Roll feel of the piece.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Hertfordshire-born Tim Hastilow studied art over 35 years ago but only returned to drawing and painting 5 years ago after encouragement from his family. He started drawing pencil portraits of animals and family pets for relatives and friends, rediscovering his passion for art and wildlife. Tim’s work is inspired by his passion for nature conservation and wildlife, from primates to birds, and captures their character in his own unique style. His seemingly random scribbles build up a complex texture to give the desired effect.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Iryna Khort’s dramatic painting ‘Raven’s Revelation’ shows a raven witnessing the dawn as the messenger of truth after a dark time. It’s sharp gaze draws us in, prompting contemplation of what it has seen and will reveal. Iryna likes to think that the bird reminds us that even in the darkest of times, hope exists for a new beginning.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Iryna Khort is a wildlife artist capturing the wonders of nature through vibrant oil paintings using the alla prima (‘at first attempt’) technique whereby wet paint is applied to wet paint, often producing work in one sitting. With over six years of dedication, her focus lies in portraying the natural world, drawing inspiration from birds, people, and the beauty of nature itself. Iryna’s art conveys the essence of freedom and boundless expression embodied by birds, reflecting a profound appreciation for life’s richness. Through her impressions, she brings delight to collectors and friends, fostering a deep appreciation for wildlife and motivating others to cherish and conserve our natural heritage.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

‘Look Alike’ by Annika Thomsen is a colourful gouache painting of a king penguin colony. Annika observes that hundred of thousands of penguins form gigantic colonies and, even though they look to man almost identical, there is always the one ‘significant other’ waiting for the partner to come home after hunting for food to provide their little family.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Annika Thomsen is a self-taught watercolour artist located in the very North of Denmark. Her daily job as marine biologist and animal trainer in a public aquarium is a big part of the inspirational process of creating new artworks. Even though watercolour is Annika’s medium of choice, she likes to explore other media such as gouache, acrylic and linoleum print. Annika has previously been shortlisted for the final of the DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year in 2020 and 2022.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

When creating his dramatic charcoal drawing, Cole Stirling’s aim was to capture the energy and unique hunting strategy of one of Africa’s most iconic birds, the secretary bird. By the striking crop and dynamic composition, Cole has illustrated the bird’s wings splayed for balance, and foot poised for impact. The secretary bird looks as serene as a ballet dancer, belying the skilful, efficient assassin about to deliver the telling blow!

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Cole Stirling’s passion for wildlife started at an early age. His earliest memories include early morning drives in his beloved Hwange National Park. Art came as a by-product and a way to express Cole’s passion. Studying photography at university, and later completing field and trails guide qualifications, allowed Cole to develop an even greater appreciation for the natural world and a desire to conserve it through his work. Drawn to monochrome imagery, especially the simplicity of focus on tone and form, this is a feature that Cole strives for in his work, and also something he finds to be quite handy as he is colour-blind!

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Jacqueline Bright’s colourful drawing shows a kettle of vultures on the lookout for a potential meal. Jacqueline notes how she loves to watch birds in flight, and she thinks the way vultures wheel around in the sky, soaring effortlessly on the hot air currents, is very reminiscent of a slow, aerial dance.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Jacqueline Bright is a pastel artist living in Norfolk, UK. Jacqueline draws both pets and wildlife, her style being both traditional and realistic. A member of several artist associations, she very much enjoys the friendly art community that Norfolk is so well known for and she regularly takes part in local exhibitions, pop up shops and craft fairs, and donates artwork to local charities. Jacqueline is inspired by her rural setting and the abundance of fauna that surrounds her when painting wildlife, and she loves to create pet portraits for people to honour and memorialise their loved ones.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

‘Studio di Falena’ is a hauntingly elegant monochrome charcoal and graphite drawing by Rosanna Gaddoni. Creatures of the night, Rosanna finds she likes moths, as they keep her company while she works. She also sees in them some parallels with herself with their love for shadows, and attraction to head for the light.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rosanna Gaddoni (b. 1972) is an Italian artist based in the Netherlands. Her work is a celebration of life, portraying the purity of animals and human beings. Rosanna’s art has been internationally exhibited and awarded. She has won Best Drawing, Best Animal & Birds, Third Place overall plus three Honourable Mentions in the PleinAir Salon, and multiple awards from the Portrait Society of America. An exhibitor at the RA summer exhibition 2022, Rosanna was also a finalist at Boldbrush, and at the 16th Renewal Center Salon. Her work is appreciated and collected worldwide.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In Sarah Soward’s painting ‘Locked’ she recalls how, from opposite sides of the Kenyan savannah, these two kori bustards emerged as if by magic. Captivated, Sarah watched as they focused in on each other, gripped beaks, spinning and battling until one was finally determined the victor.  This piece is an Oil painting on canvas (unframed).

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Sarah Soward is a contemporary wildlife artist. One of her rhino paintings is scheduled to travel to the moon in 2024 as part of the Lunar Codex digital art capsule project. Sarah enjoys employing colour symbolism and story in her work.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Iryna Khort’s striking image shows the tufted titmouse soaring towards the viewer with fierce determination, as if summoning all its strength to shield us from the storm. When creating her painting Iryna felt that when shown against such a dramatic sky, the tufted titmouse represents the resilience we need to face life’s challenges, inspiring us to find our own path to safety and security.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Iryna Khort is a wildlife artist capturing the wonders of nature through vibrant oil paintings using the alla prima (‘at first attempt’) technique whereby wet paint is applied to wet paint, often producing work in one sitting. With over six years of dedication, her focus lies in portraying the natural world, drawing inspiration from birds, people, and the beauty of nature itself. Iryna’s art conveys the essence of freedom and boundless expression embodied by birds, reflecting a profound appreciation for life’s richness. Through her impressions, she brings delight to collectors and friends, fostering a deep appreciation for wildlife and motivating others to cherish and conserve our natural heritage.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Robert Cook’s warm and detailed painting acknowledges the wonderful news that after over 600 years these majestic birds are once again nesting in the UK. Robert chose to paint this beautiful stork with backlight in order to bring out the subtle colours of it’s white feathers.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Careful observation, quality draughtsmanship and a strong sense of colour and design are key elements that come together in the creation of Robert Cook’s work which evokes atmosphere, depicts light and mood, and involves the viewer in a close encounter with his subject. Using traditional oil painting techniques, Robert builds up a detailed under-painting with transparent and opaque glazes that demonstrate the mastery of his chosen medium, and the understanding of his subject. His wildlife paintings have won him multiple awards as well as being successfully juried into the renowned ‘Birds in Art’ exhibition in America on several occasions.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Rosanna Gaddoni’s delicate and sensitively rendered monochrome drawing was created as a metaphor about her family home, as sadly she can no longer return to it. Rosanna urges us to look at this pigeon; it is late and dark, the flock is lost, and the dovecote is ruined by the long winter. Rosanna feels the pigeon has built his home within, because home is then somewhere you can always come back to.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rosanna Gaddoni (b. 1972) is an Italian artist based in the Netherlands. Her work is a celebration of life, portraying the purity of animals and human beings. Rosanna’s art has been internationally exhibited and awarded. She has won Best Drawing, Best Animal & Birds, Third Place Overall plus three Honourable Mentions in the PleinAir Salon, and multiple awards from the Portrait Society of America. An exhibitor at the RA summer exhibition 2022, Rosanna was also a finalist at Boldbrush, and at the 16th Renewal Center Salon. Her work is appreciated and collected worldwide.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Sarah Lake has created the shoebill stork ‘Abou’ by carefully hand cutting her from 8 sheets of A3 hammered paper. Sarah chose her illustration of a shoebill stork as she loves how different and prehistoric they look.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Sarah Lake is a self taught paper artist living in Kent. With a love of wildlife, most of her work is based on that theme. Every piece starts off with a photograph which is normally taken by Sarah, which she will then separate into layers. The more layers there are the more detail there will be in the final artwork. Each layer is then cut by hand using a scalpel. Sarah’s aim with each piece of her work is that it is indistinguishable at a distance from a regular picture, and only when seen up close does the viewer discover individual layers of paper.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

Travelling up to 3,000 miles to hibernate in warmer climes, the Monarch butterfly migration is considered to be one of the greatest natural events on earth. In creating her Verre Eglomise piece (incorporating two layers of reverse painted and gilded glass) Danni captures the vibrant, striking beauty of these incredible butterflies, highlighting the fact they became endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2022.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Danni Bradford specialises in the endangered art of ‘Verre-Eglomise’, the gilding of glass. Each piece is hand inked and painted onto glass, then gilded in metal leaf such as 24kt gold, copper or silver. The scarcity of artists working in Verre-Eglomise has led to it being placed on the Heritage Craft Association’s ‘Red List’ of crafts that are likely to become lost art forms. By combining this rare art form with her own fine art practice, Danni has set a benchmark in the use of this art form with the creation of her innovative, distinctive, unique and contemporary pieces.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

In her monochrome painting Sandra Vick makes reference to the distinctive shape of these birds and a popular Scottish poem. Sandra recalls how she watched these three birds visit her garden every day and attempt to free from it’s cage the large fat block she put out for them. It was Sandra’s aim in her painting to acknowledge what clever and characterful birds crows are, and to capture this in their shadows and silhouettes.

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

Depicting wildlife close to home and highlighting the precarious balance between agriculture and nature was Rachel Evans’ inspiration to create her original linocut print. Rachel’s monochrome print has been created through the lens of night vision, thus taking us into the owl’s natural world. There are three additional editions of this piece available (unframed, £75) which can be purchased by contacting way@davidshepherd.org or phoning 01483 272323.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Rachel Evans is an artist and printmaker who lives in Wales with her husband and son. Having worked in animal welfare for 20 years, Rachel’s art is inspired by her connection to nature and wildlife. She uses a range of media, but has a special interest in linocut printing. Currently Rachel works as a L&D Manager for the Samaritans, she also runs an art club for children and a women’s community art & craft group to support connection and wellbeing. Rachel has recently accepted an offer to study a MA in Art Psychotherapy at the University of South Wales starting in September 2023.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

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.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

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.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

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.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

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.

ARTWORK DESCRIPTION

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.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

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.