2014: A look back on a very busy but fun-filled year!

'Ello ello!

So I thought I'd do a reflection type of post, if anything it should be a good way to collect together all the cracking memories created from last year! Looking back I'm amazed how much has been fitted in, it's been a good 'un :)

First up, ART HIGHLIGHTS:
 My pencil drawing of a mother and baby Mountain Gorilla, entitled "Primaternal Love", was shortlisted for the David Sheperd Wildlife Artist of the Year Competition where it then went on to sell on the Preview night before the exhibition was properly open to the public, SUCH an amazing feeling and definitely the highlight of my arty career so far. To have a piece of my artwork framed up and hung just down the road from Buckingham Palace with many staggeringly beautiful artworks was a huge privilege and certainly one I will never forget. I hope to enter again this year, the deadline is drawing closer (haha see what I did there!) but I have my entry piece in mind and hope to get cracking on with it very soon once the dreaded tax return has been filed!!
You can read more about my time at WAY here http://megghyll.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/what-weekend.html

My other main art highlight was getting the opportunity to visit internationally famous animal artist Pollyanna Pickering in her home at Matlock for a very special event to celebrate 30 years of the Born Free Foundation. A really lovely day out and the chance to meet one of my all time favourite actresses and founder of the BFF, Virginia McKenna. Read more here! http://megghyll.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/born-free-foundation-30th-anniversary.html

I'd like to also take the time to say a massive thankyou to my lovely customers who have either commissioned my work, bought products from my shop or just taken the time to like and share my work and posts online, it truly means SUCH a lot and keeps me thinking all of the time spent at my drawing board isn't in vain. You're all superstars! :) Here are a few of the commissions I've undertaken this year....




ECOLOGY HIGHLIGHTS
I've been very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work as an ecologist since April which has meant most of my spring and summer season has been spent outdoors, my favourite place of all :) Great crested newt surveys and translocations, bat surveys and building inspections, otter, badger and water vole surveys, it's all been going on and I've loved every minute of it, even the antisocial hours...!

Having spent the entire season putting hundreds of miles on my motorbike and numerous outfit changes every day (bike kit off and into wellies and waterproofs, back into bike kit, back into wellies...!) it was somewhat of a relief to pass my driving test (first time yippee!) back in October and the acquiring of my little Stella Skoda - yes she has a name, I know... :/ - who has naturally done many more miles since she arrived in my care! Thump, my SV650 has earned her right to stay warm and dry in the garage after serving me without fault for close to 7000 miles in a season and 4 years of being effectively run into the ground! Who knows, if I'm feeling VERY generous I may even give her a spring clean, though she'll probably fall apart then in shock....


Read more about my ecological exploits in a few posts, check the drop downs on the left hand side of this page :)

RINGING HIGHLIGHTS
2014 was crazy busy with ecology work and my bird ringing training took a bit of a back seat as I found being available AND getting suitable ringing weather was a tall order throughout the year. However, 2015 looks set to have much in store on the ringing front, I hope to get plenty done and maybe that C licence is not so far away! I've already been out once this year and managed a busy morning of almost 90 new birds in my trainer's back garden, hopefully a sign of good and productive things to come so will keep you posted.

FUN HIGHLIGHTS

I've had the chance to enjoy some beautiful walks over the year, including the Forest of Bowland and mostly the Yorkshire Dales. We often have a furry companion with us too, Maya the Malamute :) I've made visits to the RSPB reserves St Aidan's, Fairburn Ings and Leighton Moss as well as a weekend at the Rutland Birdfair which was a lot of fun!  Weekend breaks in Wales, Kent and France too and jollies to the Scottish Highlands and Italy. It's easily been one of the best years of all my 26 and I think 2015 is looking set to be a grand one too. I'm blessed with great friends and supporting family, not forgetting my chap who is my rock and best mate. Here's to making many more happy memories.

Remember, you only have one life so LIVE IT :)

Ascending Mt. Snowdon

Tour de France

Coire Lagan, Isle of Skye

Madame Maya Malamute

Gaping Gill

Leighton Moss

Manorola, one of the Cinque Terra, Tuscany

 So although it's been a year filled with positive experiences, it's also been a year with losses too, in particular, a very good friend of ours who left us too young. Never to be forgotten.

But not to leave on a sad note, here's a little Blue Tit, the first visitor to my window feeder :) Hope all of you enjoyed the festive period and wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Speak soon,
Meg x

New Christmas Cards & a Festive Website Offer!

'Ello 'ello 'ello!

So that time of year has zipped on round again! My new Christmas cards have arrived which I'm rather excited about, six British Wildlife designs based on past pencil drawings and printed on lovely glossy A6 cards. The lovely Rob at Knight Graphics has once again done a sterling job with the printing!

6 Wildlife Designs:
Badger, Otter, Hare, Fox, Barn Owl and Hedgehog

The reverse of each card features an enlarged, greyscaled version of the main design on the front. Supplied with red envelopes, these cards come in mixed packs of 6, 12 and 18 with 1, 2 and 3 of each design in a pack respectively. Each pack is cellophane wrapped and gift-tied.

My A5 Barn Owl and Sled Dog designs from last year are also still available to buy from my website in either a mixed pack of 6 or 6 of the same design.

SPECIAL FESTIVE OFFER!

Spend more than £12 on my website***, whether that be Meg's Mugs, Meg's Mirrors, cards, originals or prints and receive a free pack of pin badges!  These little treats come in two sets, Woodland or Aquatic Animals - perfect little stocking fillers!

***(Offer exclusive of postage costs)

Hurry though, this treat is only for those organised folk who can get their orders in before December! Offer finishes midnight November 30th :)

Have a browse on my online shop :) http://megghyll.co.uk/shop.html

Happy shopping!

Meg x

Remembering the Equine Heroes of war

So this is a little surprise portrait I've been working on over the last week, I had an idea that I wanted to make my own small tribute to the thousands of horses who lost their lives while serving during the First World War. This year, 2014, is the 100th anniversary, the centenary, of Britain first entering the bloody conflict that was to see so much suffering.

Here is the finished piece:

I hoped to illustrate how horses served their masters, their determination to work, their loyalty and affection all invaluable in the hard times of conflict despite shocking conditions. These beautiful animals both fought and fell with the many millions of brave men who served their countries, transporting food and medicinal supplies to the front, pulling artillery, carrying the wounded and dying to hospital and to mount cavalry charges. Of course, in the country the Land Army were responsible for keeping the country fed by tending the land and a stirling job they did too. The soaring demand for horses was merciless with families having to give up their beloved pets to the war effort.

It would be the last time the horse would be used on such a mass scale in modern warfare.

Then there are the poppies, deliberately uncoloured to be portrayed as being both red and white, to signify remembrance in their own ways whichever be your preference. Regardless of what you think about war, the incredible bravery and courage shown by so many people and their animals should never ever be forgotten.

It is but a small tribute in a big world but I hope you like my contribution :)

We will remember them, lest we forget.

Born Free Foundation - 30th Anniversary

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted, where on earth did that go! I thought I was doing well for a while too. So much has happened, Tour de France, an actual French holiday, an Aradia arty wine-tasting and plenty more besides! At least this means I'll have plenty to talk about when the ecology survey season is over and the nights are closing in...NOT that we're even thinking about that yet, I'm sure you're all loving this lovely summer we've been having so far in Blighty.

Anyway, I thought I really had better post about the grand day out I and the other half had in Matlock yesterday. Matlock is a very pretty part of the world, set on the edge of the Peak District, a National Park famed for it's rolling hills and plenty of other things...but I digress. Why were we there? To attend an event that was being held at artist Pollyanna Pickering's home, a beautiful country house with gardens surrounded by tiny roads and lush green fields. As part of the Born Free Foundation's 30th Anniversary celebratory weekend, Pollyanna hosted an Open Day, a ticketed event whereby people could browse a huge collection of her artwork and explore her stunning gardens. Virginia McKenna was a special guest, the lead actress in the 1966 film Born Free, which of course is what inspired the Foundation's creation in the first place. The true story starring Elsa the Lioness pulls on all the heartstrings, especially teamed up with the moving music composed by John Barry, a masterpiece.

Virginia and Bill

Joy Adamson

Born Free has always been a film I have watched with great fondness having seen it multiple times from being a young 'un. I never tire of watching it and I still manage to cry at every tearjerking scene, terrible softie I am but I know I'm not the only one. It really was a wonderful experience to meet the lady who did such a fantastic job of portraying Joy Adamson all those years ago. If you haven't seen the film, do. It's quite easily one of the best wildlife films in history, a real classic and one for all the family. This one, along with Ring of Bright Water are amongst my top films of all time (also starring Virginia and her late husband, Bill Travers).

A link to a special message from Virginia McKenna
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/get-involved/our-30th-anniversary/reflection-from-virginia/

Anyway, some piccies from the day.

Pollyanna presenting a huge cheque to Virginia,
a fantastic result

Will Travers, the President of the Born Free Foundation

Gorillas, a special spot for me!

Gorgeous fountain

Painted by Pollyanna

And my favourite pic from the day, such an honour
to see two so very inspirational ladies
bringing art and conservation together

I've got lots of ecology-related photos I've been wanting to post up but sadly they will have to wait until I can snatch another bit of spare time.

Oh, go on then, seeing as you twisted my arm, just a couple!

Large Skipper butterflies (I think!)

A sleepy Tiggywinkle

A Great Diving Beetle, quite frequent visitors to
our bottle traps

Side profile, gorgeous :)

I think I remember why I don't get round to posting too much, takes up a lot of time this blogging malarky! Hopefully worth it though.

Enjoy the rest of your week, I'll leave you with this: my trusty steed in a Tour de France Teaser, doesn't she fit in well with the colour scheme!

Tata for now, 

Meg x

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