Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013 - David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Simon Max Bannister, an Ecological Land Artist, is the winner of the Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013 awarded by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

The exhibition is currently occupying the Main Gallery of the Mall Galleries and continues until Saturday 8 June 2013 (10am to 5pm). 50% of all the proceeds of sales from this exhibition go to support the objectives of the Foundation.

I went to see it late yesterday afternoon.  Below you'll find links to the prizewinners and how you can see the exhibition online

Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013
A Journey from Londolozi by Simon Max Bannister

Prizewinners

Overall Winner and Go Wild Category Winner: A Journey from Londolozi (£3,785.00 / SOLD)
by Simon Max Bannister (Simon Max Bannister, Land Artist - see blog post A journey of giraffe)
Sculpture: wood | Size: 600cm x 450cm (236.2" x 177.2")

Simon Max Bannister has been consistently creating sculptural artworks for 3 years now. After working with his degree in Graphic Design he found the need to express his creativity with an alternative means. Be it earth, stone, leaf, water, light, shadow and even plastic, he grasps the energy and moulds it into a necessary and intriguing artistic dialogue...... He is currently based at Londolozi Game Reserve as artist in residenceSimon Max Bannister website

This also makes it a win for giraffes in two successive years! (See the 2012 winner Wildlife Artist of the Year - Karen Laurence-Rowe).

Overall runner-up and Endangered Category Winner and David Shepherd Choice winner
High Life (£2,200.00) by Stella Mays ( bio )Pastel | Size: 128cm x 95cm (50.4" x 37.4").

High Life (£2,200.00) by Stella Mays ( bio )

Pastel | Size: 128cm x 95cm (50.4" x 37.4")

I don't see many pastels in this show but this one was a very good one.  Apparently the artist also earned a commissioned based on this pastel painting.

Wild Life Category Winner: Hornbills (£2,450.00)
by David Quinn
Original Oil painting | Size: 64cm x 78cm (25.2" x 30.7")

Category Winner Wild Life

Hornbills by David Quinn
Original Oil painting | Size: 64cm x 78cm (25.2" x 30.7")

3D Category Winner: Closing The Circle (entire sculpture £4200.00) by Neil R. Mason
Each penguin £125 - entire sculpture £4200.00
Sculpture: Marble resin | Size: 8cm x 14cm (3.1" x 5.5")

I found this piece to be very impressive.  I particularly liked the interactive nature of it such that  you can devise your over own penguin walk!

Winner of 3D category
'Closing The Circle' by Neil R. Mason

Young & Wild Category Winner | Animal Friends Insurance Winner: Early Bird (£450.00) by David Nuttall
Original: Acrylic | Size: 45cm x 61cm (17.7" x 24")

Winner of Young & Wild Category

Early Bird (£450.00) by David Nuttall

The  Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013 Exhibition 

A monochromatic wall of wildlife artwork

Impressions

What follows are some of my impressions.

• the artwork is up to the usual high standards that I expect of work selected for this exhibition
• sculptures by former winner Adam Binden were very impressive as usual.  I think I'd have liked to see more of his work grouped together
• it was great to see some work of very high quality at a smaller scale included in the exhibition.  The one below is by Tracey Hall (Watercolour Artist Diary), former winner of the top prize with the The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers.  See her blog post about the exhibition and her painting.  This is Tracey's 4th show.

Grey Seals (£400) by Tracy HallSize:
overall size 18cm x 23cm (7.1" x 9.1")
size of artwork: 2.75" x 4.75" watercolour

• I liked this piece which reminded me of a painting of seeds by botanical artist Rachel Pedder.  It seemed to me it worked very well as an approach to painting wildlife too.

From the Borneo Rainforest (£1,500.00) by Janet Andrews

Watercolour /Gouache | Size: 76cm x 55cm (29.9" x 21.7")

• there was a very good range in sizes but overall, I had a general impression that there seemed to be fewer very big pieces and more medium sized pieces compared to the last time I visited.  I suggest that those considering an entry for next year take the opportunity to study sizes!

Organisation

One of the things I realised yesterday is that I'd never seen the exhibition before except on the private view night- when there are always a lot of guests.

I'm trying to think of the last time I commented on the organisation of an exhibition - and can't remember!  However I have to confess I came away with a stronger impression of problems with layout than the images.

• The Wildlife Artist of the Year was in the centre of the gallery - and was very impressive. However the piece seemed to be hedged in with portfolios, demonstration tables and tables and chairs associated with the refreshment facility.  This was a pity as it made it very difficult to see the piece properly.

Wildlife Artist of the Year 2013
'A Journey from Londolozi' by Simon Max Bannister

• The gallery seemed very crowded and not particularly well laid out.  It goes without saying that in order to sell art you need to be able to see the art - and I'm not sure the layout adopted promoted that objective.
• It was very difficult to see the sculpture from a distance in a way where the visual distractions from other pieces located very close by and in the background were limited
• I had to work very hard at taking distance views of the whole gallery and in the end gave up because of the limitations on space.
• there was an awful lot of visual clutter.  It seemed to me that it should be possible to create a better design which accommodates demonstrations, print sales and the very large business table - as well as all the artwork.  My personal preference would be for complete separation and for one (smaller) and very focused area - NOT in front of the artwork(!) for transacting business and selling prints and cards.
• there seemed to be rather more tables and chair than usual - or maybe they just seemed more intrusive because there was very little open space.

Virtual Exhibitions - Wildlife Artist of the Year

There are two virtual exhibitions on the website:

• the first is for all the entries hung in the exhibition for 2013 Wildlife Artist of the Year (139 items).  This one is kept up to date with which pieces have sold.
• the second is for those pieces of artwork which were selected but not hung - see 2013 Wildlife Artist of the Year - Selected Not Hung (32 items)

There's a demonstration on Saturday 8 June between 10am and 2pm with Mandy Shepherd and Emily Lamb

Links: This is my website about wildlife art - Wildlife and Natural History Art - Resources for Artists. It contains links to previous Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibitions and highlights award-winning artists.