Wildlife Art
Even before my passion for art formed, my fascination with nature and wildlife was deeply cemented in very little me!
My earliest memories are spending hours upon hours searching for every critter and creature I possibly could.
Boxes of shells, pressed flowers and bug and butterflies filled my shelves.
My tiny hands were as small as the mice and shrews I would find in the beautiful countryside that surrounded my home but the wonder and appreciation for everything nature was as wide as the world itself.
Through my exploration of all these things, I submerged myself in books and at the age of 6 I inherited a natural history book from my mum. It was full of over a thousand pages about crystals, fungi, trees, insects, mammals, fish and everything in between. The drawings inside were what captivated me the most and every free second I had would be spent drawing from this book. The more I drew, the more my love for art and nature grew and the more and more they felt like they merged into one.
Art and nature became a foundation in my life and an invaluable outlet.
After having children, I felt increasingly aware of the changes in our natural world from when I was a child and the feelings to want to understand why and how to help became impossible to ignore.
Having younger generations (not only my own children but others in the classrooms I taught) watching and learning from me, I wanted so much to engage and interest them in world around them and how important it is to take care of our environment as well as ourselves.
In our current climate, it is not always easy to provide financially towards charities that support nature but knowledge is power and I hope my art highlights the struggles our natural world faces and how it is our responsibility to try to reverse the damage and create a safer, healthier word for not just us but our future generation.
Little, conscious decisions can have a big impact if we all work together.
Each wildlife art piece provides a description about the meaning behind the piece and small, easy steps that we can all do to encourage nature to flourish.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read,
God Save Our Polinator
Bees. Our beautiful bees. These little insects have such a big space in my heart.
As one of our most vital and valuable insects, bees pollinate up to 15% of our insect pollinated crops. For every three bites of food, one has been pollinated by bees.
Thankfully the neonicotinoids that were previously made legal to use on British crops have now been banned but long term use has had huge affects on our bees and many other wildlife.
Despite the ban, many large companies that sell toxic pesticides have created a dependency on them by farmers in the ever growing pressure to grow more food.
This has a detrimental affect on not only our bees but many more of our wildlife species. These chemicals also spread further beyond the crops into our rivers creating more pressure for wildlife.
Along with these harmful chemicals, the loss of natural green spaces like hedgerows and meadows, have too affected our bee numbers.
Without sufficient coverage of pollinating plants over large areas, bees become too exhausted to travel far enough for food.
Much more is needed from us to save our wonderful bees.
Planting wildflower and encouraging neighbors, councils, schools to do the same could be a huge helping hand to our lovely insects.
You can find petitions against the use of these pesticides on many websites including Green Peace and The Wildlife Trust.
Save Our Hedgehogs
Sadly, the population of our UK hedgehogs has been in decline since the early 2000’s.
Their numbers have depleted by 50% in rural areas and 30% in urbans areas.
As a very young girl, I remember seeing hedgehogs in the garden and parks weekly if not daily at times. Heartbreakingly, this is such a rare occurrence now.
The need for local action, the growth and preservation of our invaluable green spaces and hedgehog friendly gardens is imperative for our wonderful hedgehog's future and survival.
Things you can do to help the hedgehog:
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Create small spaces and gaps in fencing.
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Make shelters or leave natural materials for hedgehogs to build nests.
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Don’t use hazadous chemicals or pesticides like slug pellts.
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Leave out clean water in low bowls for drinking.
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Create ways for a hedgehog to climb out of ponds.
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Scatter food to encourage natural foraging.
Heal Our Hedgerows
Since WW2, UK’s hedgerows have been in steep decline. Around 118,000 miles of hedgerows have disappeared since the 1950s. This is due to intensive farming, the use of toxic pesticides, urbanization of land and the loss of workers with the skills to preserve them.
These vast declines have had a devastating impact on the numbers and survival of animals who use these habitats for food, reproduction, protection and essential pathways.
They provide necessities for the conservation of many threatened insects, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and lichens. Almost all of our native small mammals are supported by hedgerows. They are the heartbeat and landmark of our British landscape with around 40% of our remaining hedgerows being ancient. They remove carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere and help to reduce flooding. They are essential to our native wildlife and need to be greatly protected.
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Plenty More Fish In The Sea
The health of our British fish populations are in an extremely troubling state with over half of our top 10 greatest fish populations being reduced to a critically low number.
Over fishing, pollution and climate change are at the heart of this tragic outcome.
Sadly, the UK government have set catch limits at such high levels, it greatly exceeds any scientific advice given and is causing fish numbers to reach red and amber ratings.
Many unsustainable fishing practices not only decimate fish and marine populations without nature having time to replenish at a healthier rate but they also destroy habitats and ecosystems furthering the impacts on our wildlife and planet.
As little as 2011, mackerel was firmly on the green list. It has now been given an amber rating and is still in steady decline. These beautiful fish are an essential food source for other marine wildlife including whales, dolphins and tuna. If mackerel numbers continue to fall at such rates, it could have huge environmental impacts.
As the mackerel in the drawing shows, our fish are devastatingly disappearing.
Prints Available Soon....
Prints of the featured artworks and more will be available to buy soon.
Each print will be printed using a high‑quality fine art inkjet process called giclee that uses pigment‑based archival inks and museum‑grade papers to produce long‑lasting, highly detailed art reproductions ensuring each print is as close to the original as possible.
Each print will also include the information above that is relevant to each individual piece.
I will update the website when prints are available.
Get in Touch
Wildlife Commissions
For any wildlife commissions or information on originals, please use the enquiry box or email
faunaflorassketchbokk@outlook.com
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Wildlife commission prices will depend entirely on the design itself and paper size.
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