Animal Wisdom
It Began With Wonder
I’ve always loved animals.
Growing up with dogs, I recognised their unconditional love from an early age, and found any unkindness towards animals deeply upsetting.
Some of my happiest memories are of my grandfather, who taught me to recognise birds and identify them by their song.
I still remember running home across the fields to fetch his gardening gloves so he could rescue a hedgehog trapped in a cattle grid. My father filled my imagination with stories of growing up in India—of seeing a tiger fighting an enormous rock python, and once catching a tiger’s eyes in his car headlights.
Animal Magic was my favourite television programme, and whenever I wasn’t outside, I was usually drawing.
Painting What I Could Feel
Becoming a wildlife artist later in life was not as unexpected as it might have seemed.
While preparing for my first solo exhibition, Windows of the Soul, I found myself painting animals looking directly out of the canvas. I wanted viewers to feel that they were the ones being observed—and, beyond physical appearance, to sense something of each animal’s presence.
My research revealed how many species were threatened by human activity. From then on, my work became about more than creating beautiful paintings. It became a way of raising awareness and supporting conservation.
That journey has led to my becoming a finalist in the British Art Prize and being recognised by Wildlife Artist of the Year for the tenth successive year.
What Animals Have Taught Me
The more closely I have observed animals, the more one thing has stood out: they do not constantly question themselves. They trust the wisdom they have been given. We seem to be the only species that has forgotten how to do that. We search outside ourselves for certainty, while the quiet guidance we need has been within us all along. For me, this is where animal wisdom and human intuition meet.
That journey has led to my becoming a finalist in the British Art Prize and being recognised by Wildlife Artist of the Year for the tenth successive year.
