Member Article

Wanted: adventurous artist for Undersea Art Award

Northumberland Wildlife Trust has joined forces with the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWA) in its search for an intrepid artist who would like to take the plunge and seek inspiration beneath the waves.

The Wildlife Trusts and the Society of Wildlife Artists fund an Undersea Art Award which pays for an established artist to learn to dive and then to work underwater off the UK coast, recording the wildlife of the sea, as well as offering the opportunity for them to exhibit their marine inspired art at the SWA annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London.

Previous winners have created wonderful art works which have been used to highlight the urgent need for designated Marine Conservation Zones.

Applications for the 2016 award are now open and artists have until Friday 26 February 2016 to apply.

The 2015 winner, Chris Rose, who is based in the Scottish Borders, went diving off the Northumberland coast. His paintings evoke the mystery of the seals, swimming guillemots and sea-slugs that he encountered in the deep.

Chris said: “The Undersea Art Award has introduced me to a new world that is exciting for the beauty of its underwater landscapes and for the strange variety of its wildlife. This largely unseen world is rich in wildlife but it is a fragile, delicately balanced ecosystem that we all rely on and yet continue to plunder and destroy at our peril. The old adage out of sight, out of mind has never been more true. My hope is that through my paintings, in some small way, I can help to illuminate the beauty, richness and fragility of our marine environment so that we might value it more and thereby increase public awareness of the need to look after it.”

Many great artists have been inspired by the Northumberland landscape including JWM Turner and LS Lowry; however this award isn’t just for painters and open to artists using a wide range of mediums and techniques.

Aurelie Bohan, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Living Seas Officer said: “Northumberland Wildlife Trust would love to see an artist from this area apply again- somebody special who can find Northumberland’s iconic undersea landscapes amongst seagrass meadows or find majestic monuments in the soft corals. Please help us find an artist to celebrate the wonderful undersea environment off Northumberland and raise awareness of our marine life.”

Marine Conservation Zones are a type of protected area at sea where human activity is restricted to protect wildlife and habitats. The Government is creating these zones in the seas around England, following the passing of the Marine & Coastal Access Act (2009). These protected areas will allow sustainable use of the sea whilst protecting a range of species and habitats found in English waters from damaging activity.

For more information, a short film bout the award, and an application form, log on at: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/undersea-art-award

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .