I recently came across Born Free Foundation’s wildlife prints for sale after a link was posted on their Facebook page. The drawings are of some of Born Free’s own rescued animals, some of which are part of their yearly animal adoption packages. Looking through the images of the prints has got me thinking about my own art work and exhibitions.
Exhibitions can be good not only for raising much needed funds for Born Free (donating a percentage, or all of, the profits to the charity) but they can also be good for getting communities to think about wildlife and its environment.
I held an exhibition of my own themed ‘African Animals’ in 2009 at my local art gallery. Many of the pieces were of animals I had seen and encountered at Shamwari: some drawn from photographs and others actually began as sketches in the field.
I tried to capture the spirit of Africa in my exhibit, by decorating the room with fabrics, print and materials that reminded me of Shamwari and even included some of my photos of my time at the reserve as well as information about the work and projects I did there and newspaper cuttings about some of the conservation issues that the animals in my exhibition face.
I’m looking at holding another exhibition late this year or sometime next year with proceeds going to Born Free – it would be great to hear any ideas or suggestions for this…
UPDATE: Read about my second art exhibition raising funds for Born Free.
