I’m delighted with my entry for the Sketch for Survival competition. It’s not very often that I’m completely happy with a piece of work but this is one occasion when I have succeeded in reproducing the image that was buzzing around my head.
I wanted to raise awareness of a vulnerable species in my home country. The main threat to Atlantic Puffins is the change in distribution and numbers of small fish, ground predators introduced to breeding colonies, and pollution.
“Don’t Leave” is an A3 mixed media piece on cradled board. The background image contains the words “Don’t Leave” in reference to wanting to keep the puffins safe from the threat of extinction. The message is accentuated by the puffin flying away. The blurriness of the puffin’s wings also portrays the movement of flying. I love how the many layers of resin bring depth and show glimpses of swirls in the water from previous layers. Scraping back into wax layers provided a variation of colour and texture for the rocks. I was inspired by visiting these comical birds on the Isle of May and wanted to create an image different to the standard image of a sitting puffin.
I’m keeping everything crossed that he is selected for the competition. Wish me luck!
Excerpt from the Sketch for Survival website:
“Sketch for Survival helps to raise vital awareness about species extinction and biodiversity loss while also raising funds for projects around the world.
100 finalists are selected from all competition entries received and ‘win’ a place on our prestigious Sketch for Survival exhibition tour alongside artworks donated by professional and celebrity artists.
The collection is sold via online auction, with all proceeds going to their Project Fund. Sketch for Survival raised nearly £60,000 for nominated conservation projects in 2020, in spite of the Covid pandemic. The youngest contributor was just 6 years old and the oldest was over 80. Entries came from all over the world – China, South Korea, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia & NZ, Canada, the US, Brazil, Iceland, Dubai, Qatar, Turkey, Tanzania, South Africa and most countries in Europe.
In 2021 our competition is back bigger and better than ever, with two weeks at gallery@oxo on London’s South Bank.”
