It's exhibition Season!

• Mottisfont Abbey with Oakwood Artists
  Until Thursday 26th August.
• MIWAS Annual Exhibition at Marwell Wildlife
  Thursday 26th-Monday 30th August
  As well as having new originals in the main exhibition I shall also be participating in the art market all over the bank holiday weekend, where many artists will be demonstrating their work and have prints and cards available for purchase.
  
  Please do come along and say hello!
  
  

Wildscape Award

"Poised", my Sika Deer Painting, has won the Editors Choice "Highly Commended" award in the 2010 Wildscape Magazine Artist of the Year competition". (Amateur category).

The original is now sold, but prints are available.

On Safari!

In March I fulfilled a lifelong ambition when I travelled to Tanzania on safari. Seeing these incredible animals in their natural habitat is something I have dreamt of ever since I was a little girl - and I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed! The whole trip was an amazing experience for so many reasons, not only because of the animals, but also because of the rugged beauty of the ever changing landscape, the people, the culture, the smells and sounds, the good company and traveling companions, and also just the most wonderful sense of freedom and adventure!

Our time was mostly divided between the Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park. Both were quite different in their landscapes but similar in the fact that they were both located on huge, spectacularly beautiful rivers.

Selous threw up some real gems. Everything was fairly flat and much greener than I had expected and so to start with game viewing seemed to be quite tricky, but as time passed suddenly animals just seemed to appear out of nowhere! When I saw my first herd of elephants, drinking in some shallow water I definitely got a lump in my throat. Nothing can prepare you for seeing these incredible creatures in the wild - quite an emotional experience.

We saw numerous impala, giraffe, hippos and elephants and also birds of so many stunning varieties and colours. We also saw a few lions, but the highlight had to be the very rare privilege of encountering two separate packs of wild dogs. The delight of everyone in the group was evident as we all knew how hard it was reported to be to spot these fantastic animals. This was emphasized to us by the manager of our camp, who later informed us that in his four years of living there he had yet to see even one! Unbelievably, we ate our packed lunches sitting in our jeeps just watching the dogs bundled together lazing in a shady ditch!

Ruaha was quite simply stunning. It was very wild and remote and much hillier than Selous and so afforded some spectacular views and scenery. Once again we saw so many giraffe, elephants and impala, and also plenty of zebras, which I was personally delighted about! However, the highlight for me was when we came across a group of about half a dozen young male lions who had banded together. This moment was one of the most breathtaking experiences of the whole trip for me as we were able to get quite close to them. I was fortunate that they were on my side, so I stayed hunkered down and photographed them through my open window. After a while, one by one they gradually got up and walked behind and past our land rover, passing so close that I could see right into their eyes! A wonderful and thrilling experience that certainly got the adrenaline going!

One of the undoubted delights of both the Selous and Ruaha is that they are both still relatively unknown as safari destinations in comparison to somewhere like the Serengeti or the Okavango. As a consequence there are basically no other vehicles around. We had the hunting dogs and lions all to ourselves! An incredible privilege. The whole trip was an experience of a lifetime and the fulfillment of a dream for me. If you ever get the opportunity to go all I can say is take it, I promise you won’t regret it.

Solent Life Magazine

In March the Solent Life magazine did a feature on me for their Artist Review section.

I have to say that I was very surprised and flattered to be asked and was more than a little bit nervous at the prospect of being interviewed!

My worries proved to be unfounded however, as their journalist, David, was very kind and funny and soon managed to put me completely at ease.

You can download the magazine here, my interview is on pages 6 and 7. (Beware if you are on a slow connection, it's 12Mb).

Latest Work

Upon my return from Africa I had to set about working on a pet commission. Then with the school Easter holidays, inset days, bank holidays and a poorly child, (which he then very kindly gave to me!), thrown in to boot, unfortunately not much progress has been made on my wildlife work at the moment!

Having said that, I have managed to finish a small portrait of a young Red deer stag I had been working on. I know everyone will probably be asking ‘why hasn’t he got proper antlers?’, but hopefully the title will explain all - The Young Pretender.

The Beauty of British

With the onset of the lighter mornings and better weather I’ve been making the most of things and have been getting out early into my local woods to watch the deer. I’ve been rewarded by some wonderful close encounters, not only with some exquisite Roe deer but also Fallow and even the odd Muntjac!

And it’s not just the deer, there have been buzzards soaring overhead, rabbits and squirrels scuttling about everywhere, woodpeckers hammering in the trees and incredible birdsong which has been truly delightful. The buzz I get from seeing these beautiful creatures in the wild is equally comparable to being in Africa. Our British wildlife is just so beautiful and is just out there waiting for us to go and find it. The only problem I have now is deciding what I want to work on next........ African or British?

Not a bad dilemma really!

Exhibitions

• Oakwood Artists - 21st to 27th August 2010
  Mottisfont Abbey, Mottisfont, Nr Romsey, Hampshire SO51 0LP
  
• Marwell International Wildlife Art Society (MIWAS) - 26th - 30th August 2010
  Marwell Hall, Marwell Wildlife, Colden Common, Hants
• Winchester City Space Gallery - 9th October to 7th November 2010.
  Winchester Discovery Centre, Winchester, Hants
  Myself and six colleagues will be holding our very own exhibition entitled “Pencil Me In’. As we are all pencil artists of some description or another the exhibition has been arranged to celebrate the use of the pencil and staged to coincide with the annual nationwide ‘Big Draw’ event. It’s a really exciting opportunity and challenge for all of us. We’ll need to get cracking now!
• Whiteley Art Society Exhibition - 30th - 31st October
  Whiteley Community Centre, Whiteley, Hampshire