The Spirit of the Ice Bear

"Ice Bear Spirit"
11 x 7 1/2 inches
Original Watercolour painting

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This blog goes days and days without a post from me, and then TWO in one day! Stick with me, it's worth it I promise you!
Here is the finished painting, which I've been working my socks off to get completed today. I've framed it, and it goes up for auction tomorrow night, at the Fire and Ice fundraiser at Castle Drogo. This is in aid of the Ice Bear Project, the brainchild of sculptor Mark Coreth, who aims to raise awareness of the effects of climate change by bringing his truly amazing ice sculpture of a polar bear to Trafalgar Square, London and Nytorv square, Copenhagen. Over the course of several days this imposing bear will melt leaving nothing but a bronze skeleton and a puddle of water. Each hand that touches the bear melts a little bit more of the ice, giving a stark message about the effect each and every one of us has on the fate of the Arctic.

If you wish to put in a bid for this painting, please email the ice bear team here: kesella@icebearproject.org


And please, I'm asking a favour here, if you have time, and love what Mark is doing, please pass this message on! Time is short, the auction is tomorrow night, and the first bear arrives in Trafalgar Square on the 8th of December. We aim to raise as much money as possible tomorrow night, so please tweet this, blog this or pass on this facebook link.
Many, many thanks!

You are welcome to use these images in passing the message on (but please respect the rest of my artwork and images - all are copyrighted!)

If you like to let me know in the comments section of this post, I will send a print of this painting to one 'passer - on' drawn at random on Saturday morning 9 o'clock UK time. So hurry along - only 24 hours :)

Of Bears and other Beasts

Fairytales are everywhere I turn at the moment. There is wild magic in the air, the raging winds which buffet my little house make us want to curl up and retreat into imaginary worlds. We lit the fire, and watched a film - The Secret of Moonacre, which I somehow overlooked when it was released at the cinema. It was a beautiful, enchanting tale of the dangers of pride, redeemed by the ultimate act of self- sacrifice. It had my daughters and I mesmerised!( and it made us cry a tiny bit!)

See the trailer here

And this song - Beasts by Slow Moving Millie, is the perfect song for a night of fairytales.
(Yes, it's THAT song from the Virgin advert)

I have been re- reading East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and reminding myself how much I am in love with Kay Nielsen's illustrations. His polar bear is hauntingly beautiful.

There are polar bears everywhere I turn at the moment. Tomorrow night we are attending the Fire and Ice Dinner, at Castle Drogo, which is fundraising for the Ice Bear Project. It promises to be a great evening, in a spectacular setting, with talks from Mark Coreth( sculptor), Nick Baker (wildlife expert and TV presenter) and arctic explorer Pen Haddow. There are still a few tickets left if anybody wants to come!

And here is a glance at the rough sketches for my latest project.
More on this later ;)