A E London Journal

Anne London sets new art record at SEWE

I was amazed at how much fun the SEWE event was. There were so many wonderful artists at this event and it was very well organized.....

Here's the SEWE Press release to sum up the highpoint of the show for me...

"At the annual Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, Anne London set a new record for the highest price ever bid for the annual SEWE  “quick draw” event. Each year, for the past 35 years, invited exhibiting artists compete to create an original art piece in front of SEWE members and guests. Artists had one hour to complete an art piece to be auctioned off at the end of the event. Over three hundred wildlife art enthusiasts and gallery owners bid for the art pieces just completed by several of the most prominent wildlife artists in the world. Anne’ s piece, "Memories of Savute,’” was auctioned for $6000 ,a new SEWE record! Over $2000 more than the previous highest SEWE "quickdraw" bid .

Anne said, “Holding up my art in front of so many experienced wildlife art collectors was pretty nerve wracking. My adrenaline was pumping, as I just hoped my art would make it past the $1500 mark the three prior pieces had sold for.”

Jim and Anne, as well as the excited and roaring crowd, could not believe their ears as the bidding kept going higher and higher, finally pitting two couples, that had watched every stroke of Anne’s brush, against one another.

“This had to be one of the most exciting and interesting days of my life,” commented Anne after the cheers died down. "I was happy to make that contribution to the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition’s conservation programs.”

SEWE is the oldest wildlife and sporting exhibition in the United Satates and features hundreds of demonstrations, exhibits and competitions each year. Anne London exhibited her work, along with over 90 other of the world's most successful artists, at this years SEWE wildlife art exhibition."


I was quite proud to have made such a " splash" at my first SEWE exhibition!



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Award for Conservation Excellence (ACE) in Charleston, SC

We started our adventure in Charleston at the inaugural Award for Conservation Excellence awards ceremony. Ace is a nonprofit award acknowledging exceptional contributions to wildlife conservation. The mission of Ace is to honor the legacy of conservation through the recognition of men and women who share their passion to conserve the great outdoors and contribute to the sustainability of nature and wildlife.

We were guests of our friends Tom and Kathy Leiden and sat with members of the Crane Conservation Foundation and ACE awards nominee, George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation.

Conservationists from all over the world attended this prestigious award ceremony. One of the most interesting speakers was the Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. Department of the Interior. We also enjoyed getting to know a number of incredible people including former head of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Secretary of State John Turner, his wife Mary, and his daughter Kathy Turner (who is a 2018 featured artist at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition). During the course of conversation with comedian and conservationist Jeff Foxworthy,we discovered Jeff is also an avid ,although "recreational " artist. It turns out his wife Gregg, grew up in New Orleans just a half mile from Jim and that she attended the same grammar school. It's a small world!

The award ceremony was really fun with various endangered and interesting animals circulating the formal event before the awards began including my personal favorite, "joey" -- a baby kangaroo! A night to be remembered!

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A visit with Giraffe Conservation USA friends

We just had a great visit from old friends,Tom and Kathy Lieden of the USA Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Tom retired from running a very successful Cabinet company to channel his energy into saving Giraffes as well as Cranes and Penguins. They have collected Anne's art for over 20 years and we always look forward to seeing them when we visit Ohio. Tom heads several international conservation foundations and spends much of his time raising money and awareness for wildlife preservation issues. Besides being valued conservation non-profit advisers and friends, Tom and Kathy have support Arts for Animals for years and just helped us build the new outdoor gallery at our Wildlife Art Center in Africa. We visited Oak Alley, The French Quarter, and ate lots of Cajun food. We will see them this coming week again at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston and the ACE (Award for Conservation Excellence) dinner there as well.

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Sketch For Survival chooses my Art for 2018 Campaign

Here is the press release from Artists for Conservation and Explorers Against Extinction......

Several AFC artists lent support to Sketch for Survival, a new wildlife conservation fundraiser in London . This was the first exhibition and auction, part of a wider conservation campaign called Explorers against Extinction organized by UK charity, The Real Africa Trust.
AFC member, Anne London's piece 'Kiongosi', was selected for use on the 2018 Sketch For Survival logo and her Arts For Animals program worldwide will be designated as a Sketch for Survival 2018 campaign partner. Sketches by African children from Anne's Arts For Animals Wildlife Art Center in Zimbabwe will also be featured in the 2018 Sketch For Survival exhibition, which this year will tour the UK, including a week on London's South Bank, before going on to New York. Both programs exemplify how much the powerful link between wildlife art and wildlife conservation can accomplish.

The Arts for Animals Wildlife Art Center was built solely with funds raised by Anne to help the future of Africa's wildlife by changing the attitudes of future Africans .It connects creativity with conservation for African children and it's programs reach several thousand children each year. Anne said,"I am so pleased my art was chosen for this honor and that the connection between wildlife art and wildlife conservation is being celebrated across the planet more than ever before." More information on her work can be found at www.artsforanimals.com

The 2017 Sketch for Survival exhibition comprised over 160 pieces of artwork, ranging from 20 minute sketches to complex, time-consuming artworks donated by acclaimed professional wildlife artists across 14 different countries. Also featured were celebrity sketchers, including Dame Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Stephen Fry,Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Ray Mears. A sell-out audience enjoyed an entertaining evening at London's historic Royal Geographical Society as leading explorers, adventurers, wildlife experts and conservationists, including Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Colonel John Blashford-Snell, came together to make a stand against extinction. Over £40,000 was raised and donated to projects in Kenya and Botswana to help safeguard rhino and elephants.

Sketch for Survival 2017 was a huge success thanks to the generosity of artists worldwide and public support in connecting wildlife art and wildlife conservation. Artists from Artists for Conservation played a large part in the 2017 fundraiser's success and it is hoped that even more Artists for Conservation members will participate in the 2018 Sketch for Survival fundraiser. London comments,"This international exhibition is a perfect opportunity for any wildlife artist to make a real difference in the future of our planet's wildlife."

This year's Sketch for Survival touring art exhibition and auction, along with a new initiative called Selfie for Survival, aims to fund some brand new and exciting wildlife conservation projects. One of these is in Bardia National Park, Nepal and involves introducing the first ever anti-poaching canine unit to help protect endangered one-horned rhino and tiger.




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Interview in Earthfire Institute's Newsletter

In August, I was able to savor several days relaxing and sketching the wild inhabitants of the Earthfire Institute in Idaho. A very special wildlife sanctuary nestled at the base of the Grand Tetons, the Earthfire Institute is dedicated to helping people see wildlife and nature with new eyes. Learn more at www.earthfireinstitute.com

Excerpted from "Art is Like a Prayer" -- An Interview with Anne London by Susan Eirich, Executive Director of the Earthfire Institute

Susan: Why did you decide to do wildlife art?

Anne: You know, I don’t remember the decision it was so early. Even as a small child, it was so early for me it doesn’t feel like decision.

Susan: Could you talk a little bit about how you try to capture the soul of not just the animal species, but that particular animal? Or its intelligence or qualities?

Anne: Well, I have to say—this question, and I hear it often—how did you get the animal’s personality or soul into that painting? I would pose a different question: how can you leave it out? Because if you are looking at real models, and that is a key factor to what I do, if you’re looking at real models, real living beings, you’re not thinking “the hipbone is connected to the leg bone.” You’re thinking, “Oh, the emotional state of that animal as it looks at me is really something.” Everything else is just descriptive, like the carriage that holds that emotion. I do spend a lot of time studying the carriage, so that I can get it right, but the soul part—I’m more nonplussed when I see really technically great work—that has left that out. It seems as though it’s more work to leave it out. It’s almost like trying to create a real animal from a taxidermy one – you can get all the parts completely right, but you don’t have a light behind the eyes. If you start from something that’s not alive, let’s say you only work from photographs (and I will use a photograph for back up here and there for a certain detail), but if you only work from photographs, then you’re only getting the same kind of empirical information that a camera can deliver to you.

When looking at another living being from a position of emotional presence, you have the ability with your brain and your two eyes and your whole being to record that other being’s state. A camera is never going to be able to do that. And there’s some great photography out there, don’t get me wrong, but there’s just something much more arresting looking at a living being. Especially as an artist, when you draw from life, the feeling of that creature informs your line and shading in a way that just duplicating from a photograph cannot.

And I think most artists would agree with that. It’s hard— harder to work from a moving creature—you know, they don't pose for you, but the rewards are stupendous.

USE LINK TO READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE EARTHFIRE NEWSLETTER.


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My art benefits more international conservation work this year

One of this year's milestones was being invited to show my art internationally in Paris, London,Tokyo,Namibia and South Africa as well as being featured by internationally recognized organizations and events.

I exhibited three pieces at The Louvre, Paris—Salon International d'art Contemporain. It was a real thrill and my art is now being shown at an exhibition In Helsinki, Finland by an internationally recognized gallery that loved my work.

I was also invited to participate in an exhibition at the Royal Geographic Society in London through an event called SKETCH FOR SURVIVAL with the proceeds going to Wildlife conservation programs all over Africa.

In July, we sent art for a Rhino Anti Poaching event in Johannesburg to help establish a scholarship program with the Southern Africa Ranger College. Through them,we have started a program using my art to raise ARTS FOR ANIMALS funds for Park Ranger scholarships for deserving African students.

My work was also chosen again to exhibit in the ARTISTS FOR CONSERVATION annual " International Exhibit of Nature in Art" and, again, on their annual calendar. ARTISTS FOR CONSERVATION is the planet's leading artist group dedicated to supporting the environment, spanning 5 continents and 27 countries. Comprising many of the world's most gifted nature artists, AFC is a driving force in the global artistic movement for conservation, inspiring other artists,individuals and organizations to preserve and sustain our natural heritage. AFC has certainly been an inspiration for me and given me a benchmark to aspire to in making a difference on our planet.

Anne is also a "Signature Member" of THE SOCIETY OF ANIMAL ARTISTS, an organization dedicated to excellence in the portrayal of Animals with an exclusive membership of over 500 members worldwide. "Signature Members" are those few members eligible to vote and are considered to have achieved the highest level of artistic achievement. She was chosen again this year for their prestigious, annual, "Art and the Animal " exhibition .

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Working at the ARTS FOR ANIMALS Wildlife Arts Center

We were eager to get back to the Lori O'Neal wildlife Center we built three years ago to connect creativity and conservation for local children. We were looking forward to seeing all our friends and the children we have been working with for the past several years. We brought lots of art supplies and several new pieces of art from our friends here in the United States, mounted on aluminum panels so that they could be used to decorate the new Leiden outdoor Gallery

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On to our ARTS FOR ANIMALS work in Zambia and Zimbabwe

After leaving our friends in Dar es Salaam, we flew back to Johannesburg to pick up several suitcases full of art supplies, educational materials and wristbands for our work in Zambia and Zimbabwe. We flew through Zambia and drove across the famous Zambezi Gorge bridge into Zimbabwe to avoid the high Zimbabwen import taxes.The next day we drove west through the hot,arid bush near Hwange National Park to work with our friends at Painted Dog Conservation.

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