Tag Archives: animals

An Exhibition In Images: Children Sketching Animals!

Part III of an exhibition in images features Children Sketching Animals. Chris Evers from Animal Embassy brought scorpions, an African bullfrog, a monk parakeet, an emerald tree boa and a rabbit. 25 local children arrived to sketch and sculpt with tuition from artists Alison Nicholls, Karryl, David Rankin, Susan Fox and Sean Murtha. All in a gallery packed with the artists’ wildlife art from Mongolia, Africa, India, Central and North America.

What could possibly go wrong?!

Children sketching animals at the Flinn Gallery

An emerald tree boa fascinates a young visitor…

Chris Evers from Animal Embassy explains the rules…

David Rankin demonstrates how to sketch a scorpian

David Rankin demonstrates how to sketch a scorpion…

Sean Murtha watches over children and a monk parakeet

Sean Murtha helps children sketching a monk parakeet…

The monk parakeet poses perfectly…

Susan Fox explains how to sketch a bullfrog…

Alison Nicholls helps children sketch a tree boa…

Karryl helps children sculpt a rabbit…

Sketching and sculpting in the gallery…

At the end we get to have a little fun…emerald tree boa with art by Carel Brest van Kempen…

Artists Susan Fox, Karryl and Alison Nicholls with an emerald tree boa

Susan Fox, Karryl & Alison Nicholls hold the beautiful emerald tree boa…

It turned out that nothing went wrong at all. The sketching and sculpting session was a great hit and (as far as we know) the snake, scorpions, frog, rabbit and bird all exited the gallery with Chris from Animal Embassy!

Wildlife Art: Field to Studio is at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut, and features field work and studio work from 7 Signature members of the Society of Animal Artists. Each artist works in a different region of the world: Alison Nicholls (Africa); David Rankin (India); Karryl (Rocky Mountains); Carel Brest van Kempen (Central America); Kelly Singleton (Alaska); Sean Murtha (Long Island Sound) and Susan Fox (Mongolia). The exhibit is on display until May 4, 2016. Wildlife Art: Field to Studio is curated by Lillian Lum, Claudia Schipper & Alice Sherwood.

Please come and join me for a guided tour of the exhibition!
Alison

www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com
A donation is made to African conservation from every sale.

Want To See My New African Field Sketches?

All my new field sketches have now been scanned and I am ready to show them to you!

I will be releasing them on my blog and on social media, one every day, for 3 weeks, starting on November 2nd.
Why November 2nd?
Because before I put them online here, I will be showing them to my newsletter readers – starting on November 1st. So they get to see them a day in advance.

If you also want to see them on the day they are released, use this link to Join My Mailing List. Or, you can wait to see them here. But some of them may be sold by the time they are posted here…

African Field Sketches by Alison Nicholls ©2015

Shown above is a montage of a few of the new pieces you will soon see in detail. All my field sketches, are created in Africa directly from life, or sketched back at camp purely from my memory of sightings. They are completely finished in Africa and I use no photos or video reference at any time in their creation. It is always tempting to add finishing touches back in the studio, but I avoid this to ensure that my field sketches really are field sketches.

Remember, if you want to see them on the day they are released, you can Join My Mailing List. Or, you can wait to see them here, a day later. Wherever and whenever you see them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

Until November 1st…(or 2nd)!
Take care
Alison

www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com

Wolf-Approved Art by Alison Nicholls

Atka the Arctic Wolf studies my Art

Last night I and my artwork attended Wine & Wolves, the annual benefit for the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem. Atka the ambassador Arctic wolf made an appearance and decided my art was worth a closer look!

If you would like to see more of the art that Atka approved of, you can check it out on my website: www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com. Don’t forget to take a look at my Seasonal Offers which are available until the end of December.

Learn more about the Wolf Conservation Center.

Until next time…
Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
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Watering the Cattle, Tanzania Field Sketch by Alison Nicholls

Watering the Cattle, field sketch 11x14" by Alison Nicholls

Watering the Cattle, watercolor field sketch 11×14″ by Alison Nicholls

“Cattle drank in lines at the trough then ambled away to graze; Maasai men leant against their sticks in the shade of the trees; donkeys, often fully loaded with water, stopped for a drink before heading home (often with no owner in sight); men flew past on bicycles down to the stream, filled their water containers then slowly pushed their bicycles back up the hill; children herded goats and sheep and stopped to stare (if they were brave they would come to see my sketch then talk and laugh as they left); whistles, shouts and cow bellows floated out across the karongo (stream).” An excerpt from my Journal, June 11 2014, during my latest visit to the African People & Wildlife Fund in Tanzania.

See more of my African Field Sketches, all of which are available for sale with a donation to African conservation. I also have a number of Seasonal Offers available until the end of December.
Learn more about the African People & Wildlife Fund in Tanzania.

Until next time…
Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
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Yes, it is that time of year again!
So here are my Seasonal Offers #1, #2 and #3.
Later this week I will reveal offers #4 and #5.
So enjoy the start of the silly season and remember, if you purchase from me you are helping to support African conservation organizations, as well as me!

Buy any three 8×10″ Limited Edition Reproductions and pay only US$150. Although you are receiving a discount, my donations to African conservation will be made as if you have paid the full price. This offer will expire after 10 buyers have redeemed the offer or on 12/31/2014. Free Shipping Offer also applies. Free Shipping on all artwork mailed to a destination within the lower 48 states of the United States. Half-price shipping on all artwork mailed elsewhere, including international shipments. Offer expires 12/31/2014. My Last Shipping Date will be Wednesday December 17 (with guaranteed delivery within the US by December 24).

The perfect choice if you want to give a gift of art but are not sure which piece would be most appreciated. Delivery of Gift Certificates is free whether they are mailed or delivered online to the recipient. Choose your design from my artwork, write a personal message and choose a value from $60 upwards. The Free Shipping Offer will remain in effect until the end of 2015 for those redeeming Gift Certificates. My usual donations to conservation organizations apply when Gift Certificates are redeemed.

Thank You!
More Offers on Friday…
Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
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5pm acrylic on canvas 11x14 by Alison Nicholls

5pm acrylic on canvas 11×14 by Alison Nicholls

Many of my paintings make use of effects of light, but I rarely include the source (sun or moon) in my work. So 5pm, above, is a little different. I will definitely be adding the shimmering sun into more of my work as it allows me to leave the animal subjects a little less defined, something I always enjoy. Interestingly, the best way to paint a really bright sun is to leave it white and surround it with pale lemon yellow. I’m using Fredrix watercolor canvas, which is bright white, so the sun is just the natural color of the canvas.

The title of the piece comes from the time of day and the fact that in the dry season the sun retains its heat until the last possible moment.

Until next time
Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
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Meerkat Paintings

This may be the end of my career as an Artist. Afterall, how can I possibly compete with painting meerkats?!

They are cute (not a word that I often use), sociable, little critters (also not a word I often use, but it seems so appropriate here). And I see that they obviously have no fear of the blank canvas that plagues so many human artists . I can only hope that their interest in art is fleeting and that they return quickly to the pursuit of digging for insects. If you really want to encourage them in their efforts, here is the full story from Canberra Zoo in Australia:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/21445558/canberra-zoo-to-put-meerkat-paintings-on-sale-for-wildlife-conservation/

I’m visiting Canberra this year and may have to protest outside the zoo’s meerkat enclosure if they persist in their artistic endeavors!

Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
A donation is made towards conservation in Africa from every sale
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Nicholls Wildlife Art

Warthog made from flip flops by Ocean Sole in Kenya

Julie Church takes the many flip flops washed up and discarded on Kenyan beaches and turns them into amazing animal sculptures through her company Ocean Sole, which also provides employment opportunities and education about marine pollution. Ocean Sole now employs more than 100 Kenyans and their flip flop sculptures are sold in 40 zoos, aquariums and museums.

I tried to come up with a terrible pun involving flip flops but I’m afraid I couldn’t – so instead I’m just going to say that this is a wonderful, ingenious use of recycled materials!

Learn more about Ocean Sole.

Until next time…

Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
A donation is made towards conservation in Africa from every sale
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Nicholls Wildlife Art

Chase, sleeping through the Superbowl, by Alison NIcholls

What does an English artist do on Superbowl night in the US? Sketch her dog of course!

Here he is, my 3 year old German Shepherd, Chase.

Until next time…

Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
A donation is made towards conservation in Africa from every sale
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Nicholls Wildlife Art

I recently posted about Wildlife Corridors being set up in and around Kasane, a town in northern Botswana. The corridors give animals like elephants and buffalo places to cross the road in order to reach the Chobe river, and have been set up by Elephants Without Borders. Tempe Adams, a PhD candidate, has been using camera traps to monitor the use of the corridors by wildlife and found some amazing results.

“It’s amazing,” she says. “There’s a bar at each of the corridors they have to pass by. I was looking at the results and I could suddenly see there’s this big drop in wildlife coming through on Friday and Saturday nights. I thought what’s going on? It’s so obvious … animals are adapting to our habits — and our drinking habits,” adds Adams.

We know elephants are smart but sometimes we have to reminded of just how smart they are!

You can read the whole article here on CNN’s Inside Africa page.

Learn more about Elephants Without Borders.

Until next time…

Alison

Art Inspired by Africa and Conservation
A donation is made towards conservation in Africa from every sale
Visit my Website
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Nicholls Wildlife Art