Contemporary Animal Artists (Part 1).

I think most animal artists try to convey a sense of wonderment at the perfectness and beauty of the natural world, be that through conveying a sense of spirituality and an essence of the animal. Increasingly, these days, there is the need to also raise awareness of the need for conservation of species, biodiversity and habitats.

Most artists do this by creating a sense of the (wild) spirit of the animal, but also I think there is a need to shock, with the hope of generating action or an increased awareness of these issues, to be a force for good for our planet in the end. I am trying to create an element of shock, or at the least, raised awareness with the hope that this generates some action. Not just an aesthetically pleasing pot, but hoping there might be ripple effects. One of these would be the auctioning off of work for charities which I support and follow. This would be in the future.

Connection with, bearing witness and providing a voice for, the voiceless is at the core of this artistic message.

Isaac Yuen has written "Bearing Witness". In this he quotes

"Shackled to our intellects, humans throughout history have envied animals for their ability to be at ease in the ever- present."

"To be an animal is to be complete, To be enough. As humans we can only guess, dream and wonder. We have to make do."

However this naieve dimension makes animals vulnerable. There is also the need to eradicate cruelty and treat other species with the respect they deserve. I suppose this could be extended to include indigenous people, who are coming to the forefront of the conservation effort, especially where habitats and endangered species are concerned. They also risk their lives as Guardians.

My art is leaning a little way towards Campain Art, incorporating elements of Design, (Graphic Design), using Collage Art to create ideas and inform my work. Interestingly, this includes words; which collaging and looking at other Campain Art has been helpful for. Generating ideas for different ways of creating impact.

Other Animal Artists:

Zoe Whiteside

Zoe is from Shropshire, and when I saw a sculpture of a small child astride a rhinoseros, I knew that this was special art. This image is open to a wide range of meanings, for Zoe the significance is in its optimistic and positive mood, qualities which she says are a vital part of her work. Unfortunately I have not been able to find this image again, but I will look out for it.

She brings awareness to issues of the natural world by beautiful positive sculpture, mainly of a couple or few animals together ( in embraces ).

Zoe goes to London Zoo to sketch. This year I have had my first experience of sketching at a Zoo, which I found was great. It was nice to be near the animals and also actually the human interaction of people coming and admiring your work and even filming!

I do now think zoos have a wider conservation role to play, though when an animal is confined, its natural needs and behaviour should be catered for. Certainly no cruelty and neglect, which unfortunately can happen.

This asks the question, how confrontational do I want to be? I would like to include an element of shock in my work, though in a more subtle way than just visual, through concept and the use of chosen words. Maybe through understatement?

Emily Nickel

Emily creates ceramic figures and vessels which feature magical beasts and their human companions seeking their truth in an unfamiliar world.

She says "I am interested in the ways that young people attempt to find their true selves amidst the pressures of our materialistic , image-obsessed society." This is the second reference to our society being obsessed by images I have heard recently. A musician on the radio commented about this too. There is too much that can go wrong with imagery now, as it is open to alteration by AI.

The Plunge

Dilema 1

She also does very nice folky sgraffito ware, for example, mugs and wall hangings of hares.

She seems to use white stoneware with a black slip. Again hair texture is important.

Charlotte M Pack

Charlotte's work strives to explore innovative ways to draw attention to declining wildlife and the natural world. This is actually what I am trying to do too, and I think quite a lot of other artists who sculpt or draw animals in ceramic.

Charlotte donates 15% of her profits to support wildlife conservation around the world. I like this, and she is actually the only ceramic artist who actually says this, and puts a quantity on the donation. However Jack Durling also donates to animal wildlife and rescue charities.

Caledonia Long Eared Bat

at

Charlotte recreates animal furs, reptile scales and the wrinkley hide of rhinos. This is something I will look into and hopefully try to incorporate on my ceramics.

Her work is exquisite, with very detailed carving, very realistic, but given a twist with the different colours she uses in the clay, different for each animal. This is another design aspect of her work. She creates a recognisable product with the small lidded jars with animals on top. They are different colours, but each one a single colour with decoration in the relief.

Her animals are on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. Each animal has its species name on the underside and its 'status' in the wild. This can be Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Sadly 100 elephants are killed a day for their ivory. Charlotte made 100 elephants in 24 hrs to reconstruct the size of this. They were then sold off.

Nicola Theakston

Nicola makes expressive animal subjects, in sculpture. She makes either individual pieces in response to a subject, or as a small series or body or work, evolving over time. I am moving to collage generated work, my first collage generated 3 pieces about Bornean Orangutans, and my second collage was just as fun to do and has led to work in new directions. It was a good news piece, amongst all the warnings.

She says from a series you get "A developing understanding of a subject". I would agree with that.

She says "That an individual creature may experience some 'otherness' or spiritual dimension beyond our understanding of its instinctive animal behaviours, is the promise behind much of my work and portrait is a vehicle I use to explore feeling and expression."

Primates are maybe what people would first think of, given that almost all their DNA is the same as ours.

I think as world 'opportunities ' decline, the need to ' think out of the box' to justify ourselves and see a way forward, creates its own new 'dimensions'.

Sighthound

Bastot

I think this is quite a poignant image, given that there are still animals (and people) hurt in conflicts that are not of their making, including now use of landmines.

I like the bold, yet understated use of colour and 'untidy' drips of glaze which sometimes roll down the animal. This is obviously a very runny glaze - I will look this up in relation to the Linda Bloomfield lecture I went to.

Rob tells me that I need to complete my drawings (drawn in the field) by adding feet etc using separate sketches if necessary. Nicola Theakston does not seem to do this... (just an observation). Nicola works in bronze a lot, her website said no ceramic work is currently available.

This raises another question: Does sculpture more lend itself to imperfect working , portraying emotion and feeling. I would like this to a degree in my own art - I would love the glazes and colours to work a happenstance . This is what I was aiming for in my historical cobalt wash technique with the outlines of cobalt blue bleeding into the lead bisil glaze. This is what drew me to cobalt oxide and this effect.

These two are my first ever experimenting with this technique and drawing horses. After a holiday in Iceland. These were my cousin's horses. The bowl is now in its right place in Iceland.

Definition of Happenstance

Chance or a chance situation, especially one producing a good result.