A year in the life of a wildlife art fan
A year in the life of a wildlife art fan
In the media, the end of the year is a time of reflection. When I reflect upon the previous year it often amazes me what has happened in the world that I have completely forgotten about, although at the time the event was greeted with excitement or incredulity.
I therefore decided that, for 2011, I would make an effort to write down events in my wildlife year. Hopefully the reader will find some of the entries interesting.
January 2011.
A time of anticipation. Have submitted an article to Wildlife Sketches on why I’m interested in wildlife and art. I’m pleased with the way it looks, especially with David’s excellent prints for illustration. Hope readers find it interesting.
Heard from one artist who is going to paint a cheetah brother coalition I photographed at Ann Van Dykes last year.
Went to see David about the possibility of him drawing a King cheetah, my favourite big cat. I’ve hardly ever seen it depicted in art. I know he’ll do it better than anybody. Took photos for reference and had a great chat about the big cats and some of his hopes for the coming year.
February
The coalition painting is finished. I think it looks striking. The artist has also done another of a lying down cheetah. Hopefully they will both sell in these difficult times.
Heard from one of our South African friends that we met on safari last year. They’re off to the Mara in Kenya this year so we’re suitably envious.
We’ve been thumbing through the holiday brochures whilst outside it seems to do nothing but rain. Decided on Madagascar. Expensive but we’ll soon be too old to enjoy, or be able to afford, that sort of holiday so will go whilst we’re able and it’s still got some wildlife and habitat left. The David Attenborough series has been on tv. Fortunately we booked before it started as the series is bound to get others interested and accommodation and flights are limited. We’re not going to October due to wanting to go in the dry season when some of the leaves are off the trees and the lemurs have had their young. Hopefully, should be great for lemur and chameleon photographic references for artists, although I think that photographing in a rainforest is going to be really tough.
March
Put the final touches to an article on Giant Pandas and as Edinburgh zoo are acquiring a pair from China in the near future, thought it might be a good time to submit it for possible publishing on Wildlife Sketches.
Have also been seeing what all my favourite artists are planning for 2011 by viewing their websites. The exhibitions will soon be starting.
Finally decided to write an article about the kudu kill we witnessed last year. Quite pleased with the result but it needs polishing.
Bought books on Madagascan birds, mammals and language in readiness for our trip later in the year.
April
Found some brilliant footage of one of our destinations in Madagascar on You Tube. The guy who took it was very generous in spending some time answering my questions, especially about a lemur reserve we’re going to. Can’t wait for October to hopefully get some great shots.
Heard from Vince and am pleased he liked the panda article. It would be great if more people contributed to Wildlife Sketches.
Spotted my hundredth British bird species since Xmas.
May
Great to see David’s blog and new print of a Chinese alligator. Hope it sells well.
Chinese Aligator by David Dancey-Wood 2011
David Shepherd’s exhibition of wildlife art is on at the Mall Galleries in London. Tempted to go as some of the work looks exciting. However, all the works are on the web so not sure I can justify the expense, although to see the real thing is always special.
Joined the Hants and Isle of Wight Naturalist Trust. They’ve got a 50th anniversary wildlife photographic competition which I want to have a go at. Judged by Chris Packham, it would be brilliant to be one of the twelve winners who will get the chance to meet him and have their photos turned into a calendar. Is photography art? The way Chris Packham takes photos, I’d say definitely yes.
June
Had a final check on my article on King Cheetahs and sent it off to Wildlife Sketches.
Got busy taking photos for the photo competition.
Didn’t go to London as all of the paintings were on the web. Some stunning work.
July
Continued to take photos at every opportunity. Joined Flickr to enable me to take part in the competition. The whole concept of Flickr intrigues me and I hope I can cope with the technical side. The standard on Flickr is incredibly high but you’ve got to be in it to win it. Selected my favourite five and successfully submitted them.
Wildlife Sketches put my article on line and I’m pleased with the way it looks.
Checked the sequel article on my efforts to see and photograph a King Cheetah at De Wildts and sent that off.
Art exhibitions are gathering pace. Viewed NEWA exhibition on line and saw BBC Wildlife artist of 2011 winners in the magazine. Won by Stella Mayes whom I really rate. I am fortunate enough to own one of her pastels.
August
Second cheetah article published. I think they work well together and I hope readers enjoy them. I certainly enjoyed researching and writing these two.
Over eight hundred entries in the photographic competition so plenty of opposition.
Results announced. Didn’t win but enjoyed the experience and some of the winners are stunning. However, I heard that one of my photos might be included as a small additional photo. Great!
Wrote a requested article on Amur leopards. One of my favourite cats so will be interested to see how it is received.
Went to the MIWAS exhibition at Marwell . Great to see such a variety of subjects and styles. It is always fun to talk to the artists and to see old friends.
September
Spent over twenty hours at Marwell as the Snow leopards have had triplets. Met many interesting people to talk to while we all waited for the extremely shy cubs to put in an appearance. Finally got some really pleasing shots of the triplets and mum. One of the photos made a small appearance in the Marwell magazine and I had some generous comments on Flickr.
Heard the first inkling of David’s forthcoming exhibition at Eastleigh which is always an exciting event. The new print of a sleeping otter is superb!
Final preparations for the Madagascan holiday. Can’t wait!
'Forty Winks'
Sleeping Otter by David Dancey-Wood 2011
October
The holiday finally arrives. Late plane flights and all luggage lost got us off to a stressful start. However, two great lodges, fantastic people and wildlife to die for certainly resulted in many wonderful memories and an edit of 800 photos to work through. Amazing how many Brits were there as a result of watching Attenboroughs BBC series. As I thought, photographing in a rain forest in rain with foliage and leeches on my head was difficult! Eight species of lemurs were however photographed which was more than I hoped for. Should be another article or two in the trip for Wildlife Sketches.
November
Spent a couple of weeks editing the Madagascan photos and then getting them printed and put in a couple of albums.
We decided to have a go at a calendar on lemurs using our photos.
Decided to change all the photos in frames in our kitchen to have some of our best Madagascan photos on show. We also had three canvases done of lemur portraits which look great. The overall result we find pleasing and should give us a fresh look in the kitchen for a while.
Went to David’s exhibition at The Picture Framing Gallery in Eastleigh. A super exhibition and it was great to see his new originals. Thought the spider monkey and the frogs were excellent. Also thought the eyes on the fossa drawing were amazing. Shame we didn’t see any fossa in Madagascar.
Finished the month down at Marwell and actually got an hour of viewing and photographing the snow leopard cubs which have really grown.
Had an email from Marwell saying they wanted to use one of my earlier cub photos for a xmas card so am really pleased.
December
Great to see the pandas arrive at Edinburgh zoo. Need to plan a trip to see them as I’ve seen all the others that have been on our shores.
Saw my 125th British bird species, a tree sparrow of all things. Don’t know how I missed recording it earlier in the year. It gives me a healthy total to try and beat next year.
Any spare time not going on Xmas preparation is being used on Flickr to make up new photo sets and to admire the work of others. Probably one of the most enjoyable things I’ve started all year.
Most of the holiday brochures have arrived for 2012 and a time of anticipation is again occurring . The yearly cycle of a wildlife art fan is therefore almost complete.
Jon relaxing in Madagascar
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