What a weekend!

A bit of an overdue blog post after what's been a very busy week but better late than never! I'm about to fill you in on what was the best moment of my art career to date, I hope you're sitting comfortably, here goes!

So after getting in from a transect bat survey at half 12 in the morning (and some hair-raising green laning on the motorbike in the dark) I collapsed into bed hoping to squeeze in as much sleep as possible for a 6am start and some frantic packing. Breakfast was wolfed down, bags thrown in the car and my Gorillas carefully packed up and seatbelted in and at 8.30am we set off on the long road trip down to Kent. I say we, I don't drive yet so my lovely other half was responsible for the safe transit of Primaternal Love and I down to that London and he fulfilled his role as chauffeur superbly well. I had until 4pm to deliver my portrait to the Mall Galleries and we were aiming to be in London for around 2pm...obviously nothing ever goes to plan!

Last pic of the gorillas in my home!

Ticket packed!

It was a seemingly uneventful journey most of the way and our opinions of a congested south were fading...until we hit the M11 and realised the possessed sat nav was trying to take us close to London with all the congestion zone road signs popping up, aaargh! Turned out it was set to avoid the toll roads, typical!....so after resorting to a good old-fashioned map we turned around and went for the Dartford crossing...hitting it at early afternoon on a Friday - NIGHTMARE! An hour's very slow crawling in traffic and we were across, throwing the toll of £2 at the barrier willingly just to get going again. We eventually got to our friend's place for 2.30pm, only an hour and a half to get to the centre of London, eek!

We parked up and promptly hot-footed it to Sevenoaks train station where we managed to hop on a train straight away (always remember London having very efficient transport systems!) and after 40 minutes we were at Charing Cross, thankfully a very convenient 5 minute walk away from the Mall Galleries. By this time is was 3.30pm so a speedy game of human dodgems was on the cards, past the great lions of Trafalgar Square, through the Admiralty Arch and then we'd arrived. A weight was lifted now the drawing was safely delivered, with 20 minutes to spare too, phew, talk about cutting it fine!!!

The Admiralty Arch

We didn't hang about in the city centre long then with us both being tired from the journey and rush hour fast approaching. We were planning on spending the day there on Monday before the Preview night at the Galleries so we headed back to Kent for an evening of sunshine and good company, in fact a whole weekend of it but more about that at a later date.

Now to fill you in on the main event on Monday 2nd, the Private Preview night! After a visit to the British Museum and St. James' Park and a quick freshen up, we headed back to the Mall Galleries for the start of the Exhibition itself. After all the build up to this prestigious event, it was actually happening and I couldn't quite believe I was actually there, just a few moment's walk from Buckingham Palace with one of my drawings up in a top gallery, just wonderful. Tonight the Exhibition was opening up to all the artists who's work had been short-listed for the event, plus guests and celebrity artists.

After having my name ticked off and collecting a name badge we were greeted by an amazing display of truly stunning artwork, canvases and framed works of all sizes, meticulously arranged on the walls whilst the sculpted pieces were spread about the centre of the room. Straight away cameras were flashing left right and centre as artists were posing with their work and we had to try and find my work among the 150+ works in this huge space that was quickly filling with people, no mean feat! It took a few minutes but then we saw them and, wow, WHAT a feeling! I almost wished I'd adorned neon legwarmers and done some crazy leap across the room towards them but thankfully I hadn't and didn't, thus preserving all sense of dignity and professionalism.

Anyway, some pictures!

Busy!

Much time was spent perusing the hugely varied and, quite frankly, breathtaking standard of work, and here is a selection of my favourites!

Smew with miniature by Philip Nelson

The Indochine Tiger by Trung Nghia Nguyen

Lemur Lunchtime by John Elliff

Feathered Friend by Mandi Baykaa Murray

Shirokuma by Liara Crane
(winner of the Young & Wild Category)

Indian Summer by David Shepherd (Limited Edition print)

Water Vole by David Shepherd

Sunrise on the King by Stefano Zagaglia

Clear a Path by Nick Oneill

Noca - Brazilian Jaguar by Neil Allen

Raven by Jane Ackroyd (eyeing up my other half!)

Sword of the Desert by Stefano Zagaglia
(Winner of the Wild Life category)

And the artist himself, who also painted the exquisite
"Sunrise on the King" shown above

If the Bee Disappears... by Calla Beddow

Time Out by Nick Mackman

Amazingly whilst at the other side of the gallery we had noticed little red dots appearing next to artworks and assuming they meant pieces had been sold we meandered our way back to the corner where my Gorillas were up...and I couldn't believe it, I HAD A DOT! ALREADY! Another fantastic feeling (I was a bit stunned to be honest) so we then had to ask a volunteer and they confirmed those red dots really did mean what we thought they did, blimey.

I was also asked to have a photo taken by one of the DSWF photographers so I'm in the official magazine for the event, such a privilege! You can read the mag here (I'm on page 20 ;)) The photographer congratulated me when she saw the dot after I'd taken her to my drawing for the pic, which quite took me by surprise so thankyou, a lovely boost :D

http://issuu.com/dswf/docs/event_magazine2014/12?e=5340120/8115065 

Before we knew it, the moment for the prizegiving had come. "The Boss" David Shepherd, head judge Mark Carwardine and Pam St Clements took centre stage and gave inspiring and heartfelt speeches about the amazing work the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation carry out.

David Shepherd himself

Mark Carwardine, wildlife film-maker and photographer

And then it was all over! Well, we wandered a bit and then, knowing we still had to make the long journey back home that same night, we went on our merry way. A couple more photos and back on the train to Kent :D

The exhibition finished at 4pm today, do let me know if you managed to have a look! If you've missed it you can access the whole catalogue of works online and buy here http://shop.davidshepherd.org/event/8/

Read the BBC article on the event:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27664083

The overall winning piece was "Transparence Elephant" by French sculptor Pascal Chesneau so a massive congratulations to him, it's a gorgeous work of art and very worthy of the title!

It was an absolutely superb experience, one I still can't quite believe I've been a part of and definitely the biggest thing to happen in my art career so far. I'll leave you with a few momentous screenshots, enjoy the rest of your weekend...

Eek!

...onwards and upwards!

Meg x

Beetles, books & bikes in buildings!

Hope everyone's enjoying their Bank Holiday weekends so far, the rain is lashing down as I type but tomorrow promises to be brighter so hoping to get out for a wander with our fluffy Malamute buddy.

This last week has been mostly busy with newt and bat surveys. I was away with work for a couple of days and, as any fellow motorbikers will know, the question of bike security can often prey on the mind when needing to leave them parked up for any length of time...so my very understanding boss (who used to ride motorbikes) came up with this solution before I did, much to my relief!

A snug fit...a vase of flowers was on the table on my return,
you'd never have know she was there!

Anyway, onto a few of my findings while out and about this week:

Cinnabar Moth

A Clouded Silver in my room!

A Great Diving Beetle larva, quite ferocious looking critters.
This one is taking oxygen in through a spiracle on its back end!

One of the hundreds of tiny pond snails we encountered at one pond,
that little speck to the top left of the photo is a baby version.

A pair of Great Crested Newts, the female I'm holding was huge
and longer than my hand!

A Stickleback fish

My reference books are coming in very handy these days,
especially the old Observer's Pond Life! Puffins still ongoing
in the background, working on them today.

Only a three day week for me this next week as I'm off down to that London to deliver my Gorillas to the Mall Galleries, it's literally only just properly sunk in now and it's a tad daunting! Country bumpkin in the big Smoke...but it will be good to go back as I used to visit it quite a bit when I was younger. I've no doubt we'll enjoy it, it's going to be an amazing experience amongst so many like-minded and talented folk, all raising money for the fantastic cause that is the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

I'll be posting here all about my visit so keep your eyes peeled!

Ciao fer now :)

Meg x

Competition Shortlist Catalogue now online!

Evenin'!

I said I'd keep you posted regarding the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year that my Mountain Gorillas drawing has been shortlisted for...the online catalogue went live yesterday!!! So you can now see all the shortlisted works which are going to be exhibited in the Mall Galleries, London from the 3 - 7 June. So much gorgeous work to be seen and I can't wait to see it all in person when I go down to London for the Preview night on the 2nd June. Much excitement!

The link to those works being exhibited

There's also a selection of equally lovely work in the "Selected but not Hung" category, found here


A couple of screenshots:

Highlights from my surveying work as an ecologist this week include:

A pond we were torching for newts had quite of few of these, Amphibious leeches!

Fields of oilseed rape while out on a water vole survey

Common Field- speedwell I think!

First Drinker Moth caterpillar of the year

Pretty apple blossom

Also spotted my first Swifts of the Year yesterday and one at home today! Summer is most definitely here :)

Ta-ra for now!

Meg x

A New Chapter and more Puffins!

Another fortnight has flown by since I last posted here and more news to tell! As of tomorrow I will be starting a new job working for an environmental consultancy as an ecologist surveyor which I'm very excited about. All those years of being out and about in the natural world observing birds, mammals, flowers etc. have not been in vain and my seemingly vast collections of natural history books are certainly going to be earning their keep, not to mention my Zoology degree! I know I previously mentioned hoping to study as a veterinary nurse but sometimes you need to follow the paths presented to you and this job is going to be wonderful opportunity to not only boost my knowledge but allow me to assist others with that knowledge which I have already gained and putting it to good use out in the field. I can't wait to get stuck in! You can expect to read more about my exploits as I go along, wellies are at the ready :)

Obviously my embarking on a full-time job for the summer season will mean I'll be spending less time sat behind my desk with pencils in hands BUT this doesn't mean I'll be stopping drawing altogether, far from it. I have a couple of wildlife commissions to complete as well as preparing for my being the "Summer Artist" at a lovely little gallery called Aradia in Emley, Huddersfield where delectable Tuscan edibles and wines are also available www.aradiaglobal.com Here I will be exhibiting both original work and limited edition prints for the months of May and June 2014 so if you're in the area do pop by and say hello! I'll post more about this closer to the time.

Still rather giddy about my Mountain Gorillas drawing  going to that London (read more from a previous blog post here) The exhibition will be open to the public from 3rd June to 7th June 2014. If you're thinking of going it will be free admission and well worth a pop in if you're local-ish so scribble the dates in your diary if you're a fan of wildlife art, there are going to be some stunning pieces there! Here's a link to the Exhibition website where an online catalogue will be available to view from May 10th www.davidshepherd.org/way/ 

I also mentioned I would be posting up a progress post of my Puffin Study that I'm currently working on so here are a few more updates for you:

Taking off or about to land? You decide!

Havin' a scratch

Scratching pose completed and onto a snuggled pose...

A double update as the layering of the feathers has built up, my brain was definitely starting to feel fluffy after staring at so many!

I hope you're enjoying seeing the portrait taking shape, it's great fun to do but as with all my work, very time-consuming. I had an idea of the poses I was going to include from my own selection of reference photos taken while I was on Skomer Island but as the portrait has progressed I've adjusted and swapped round the original ideas do even I'm not sure what the end portrait will look like but that is what makes it so much fun :)

If you're a Facebook-er there are more in-depth posts about each pose and if you want to be more closely informed about progress of my drawings then you can also "like" my page  https://www.facebook.com/megghyllpencilartist

Once the like button is clicked you can hover over it and click "Get Notifications" to be alerted every time I make a new post :)

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday, here are some pretty Wood Anemones to go on with, I found them while out on a walk yesterday (brushing up on plant ID!)