Rock Sounds Reef, Eleuthera Island, Bahamas. Swipe to see the rough, the rougher & the semi-finished. See how messy my first sketch is, and my notes, perhaps the only one who can read them! You can also spy my notes from geeking-out on a science direct paper on the role of macro-invertebrates in controlling algae on reefs. So coo! So of course, that's why this features the black urchin, the maguimithrax crab & the Bahama sea star. On all coral reef paintings I try to include a shark here is the Carribbean reef shark, and a sea turtle (hawksbill) & of course I couldn't leave out barracuda or the endangered Nassau grouper, the giant barrel sponge or the sharpnose puffer... So hard to know where to stop when adding more species. 🪸🪸🪸
🦈🐙🐡
#coralreefart #coralreefpainting #watercolorillustration #natureillustration #coralreef
Slide 1 was me playing with ideas for this surfboard art collaboration with @maluawood I call it The Ocean Unites, because I feel like being in the ocean reminds us of how connected we are with all life in the ocean and with each other. It somehow washes away the boundaries that were never really there in the first place. I painted directly onto Malua's beautiful 1970s-style, paulownia twin fin using gouache.
#wavepainting #oceanart #surfart #ericeira #surfboardart #oceanartist
Blue Monday 💙, often known as the most depressing day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Being in the depths of the short days of winter, but without the comfort of all the festivities. When most people are still waiting on their first paycheck of the year and of course it's a Monday...
Today for me it's raining and I'm home with the flu having had a sick child all of last week. It's now my turn & my son's still off, I'm making him watch nature documentaries about narwhal 🌊🦄. I don't have the energy to entertain him & I find this one of the most comforting & relaxing forms of passive entertainment. It gives me a sense of awe & inspiration & reminds me of all that is wonderful about this planet. It's so rare that I get the opportunity to completely relax that I'm actually quite enjoying myself 😴
Wishing you all well on this Blue Monday 💙
#bluemonday #planetocean #blueplanet
#narwhal
Endangered Species Day... It absolutely bowls me over every time I do a project on endangered Species how many of our most beloved & iconic species are endangered (as well as countless others most of us are unlikely to have heard of, then all those yet to be discovered). This is an artwork I made for @eeboopieceandlove
For their Wild World puzzle & everything here is either endangered or vulnerable. Did you see the news that the white rhino is now in effect extinct. There are only 2 females remaining in the world and no males. Scientists may be able to use artificial insemination to allow for a new generation but a small gene pool is not great for species survival & we have yet to deal with the reasons for their extinction. It's tragic 🦏😞 In my son's early years I was often reading stories to him about elephants, giraffes, whales, tigers and cheetahs. Knowing that there is a good chance some of them may no longer be around by the time he is grown.
The good news is for the most part, we know what we have to do... by restoring nature, stop poaching, educate, use our land & marine spaces for plants & algae rather than destructive agriculture & fishing practices...
Nobody said it was easy but we do know what to do...
#endangeredspecies #endangeredspeciesday #wildlifeillustration
In célébration of the little things...
First in a series of little tiny paintings of little tiny sea creatures 🌊💙
#nudibranch #leafsheep #marinelife #oceanart
Happy 100th Birthday David Attenborough 💚🌍💙🌎🩵🌏🤍
What a life! Sharing with the world, such a passion for the natural world, that motivates & inspires those all over the world to defend these wonders we all rely on so intrinsically.
#davidattenborough #attenborough #attenboroughquote #naturelover
Deep (Sea) Awareness Day is today May 7th! The deep sea is the largest habitat on earth and it comprises mountain ranges, plains, trenches & canyons. We still have so much to learn, yet it is far from safe from human interference. Deep sea mining looms ever closer....
The Blake Plateau, a deep-sea mountain range off the coast of North Carolina is an incredible part of the planet, abundant & diverse in life. Except for one section of it... The first test for deep sea mining made in 1970 has left a scar. Over 1/2 a century on & there is barely any recovery at all.
What we do know about the deep sea is that it is ancient, highly sensitive to disruption & needs protection.
#defendthedeep #deepsea #deepawarenessday
For "Seeds Sowing" I was thinking lots about the homogenization of our food systems. How we rely on a handful of crops and seeds companies to feed most of the world. A few years ago I read a book by Dan Saladino called "Eating to Extinction" exploring endangered foods and the stories of those people working to save them, to bring them back to life AND how this would create a food system more resilient against climate change & disease, not to mention more nutritious & more culturally diverse. From Kavılca wheat from Turkey, to the alb lentil (thought to be extinct until recently) from the Alps, it's all in all a really positive read. It also led me to think more about seed sovereignty. I was particularly captivated by the story of @vivien.sansour and her mission to find the seeds and begin cultivating the Jadu'I watermelon the (until recently almost lost) watermelon of Jenin West Bank, Palestine. I recommend looking up her work & the seed library she has created there. I will add this to my "Story of Plants" project. I'll share a little more soon!
Oh wow! What a challenge. It went so fast & I'm.late posting this and catching up on seeing all the beautiful work for the last prompt . But THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! For taking part, for sharing your creativity for supporting each other . 💚🌍🌱 #ourplanetweek #opwseeds #ourplanetweek26
Here is this year's host Team!
@asiaorlando_@beetleinthehay@caitbrennanillustration@emmalopesart@hello.momo.illu@janinarossiter@juditorosz.artwork@karlasandersart@lamartina.art@megharriet@megliljenquist@raquelrussoo@sarahvonrickenbach@studiolisa@tyymes@zatiff
Ocean Glowing- this is another years-in-the making (not non-stop) repeat pattern coral. Coral reefs are amongst the most biodiverse places on the planet. Rich & abundant on life. You may recognise echos of this painting from.previous posts but I finally managed to get these 2XA3 aintings complete and repeating. Next step to fill with life and animate (may take me another couple of years! 😅😅) maybe for next year #ourplanetweek
I'm loving seeing all the incredible artwork for this prompt as you may know ocean art is very close to my 💙🩵💙
Keep them coming and remember the tags to Help us find you (tagging the hosts can help too!)
🌊✨🩵🌏🌳#letsdrawthechange #opw26ocean #ourplanetweek (remember to use these hashtags so we can find you)
Here is this year's host Team!
@asiaorlando_@beetleinthehay@caitbrennanillustration@emmalopesart@hello.momo.illu@janinarossiter@juditorosz.artwork@karlasandersart@lamartina.art@megharriet@megliljenquist@raquelrussoo@sarahvonrickenbach@studiolisa@tyymes@zatiff
For "Winds Blowing" I had to go for clouds ☁️🌩️☁️ I'm form the UK after all 🙃. From those fluffy cumulus that change shape as they blow in the wind to the icy cirrus streaking the sky to thick dark cumulonimbus, clouds that blow in over our heads (or under us if on a plane!) are so intertwined with life on our planet.
We evolved looking at clouds ☁️🌨️🌦️🌧️🌩️
We may watch the sky hoping for big dark rain clouds to water plants or fill the rivers, we may look at that thick blanket of cloud, hoping for some sun rays to brighten our day & dry the soil out (this was us in January!) I was recently thrilled to see those rare fluctus clouds in the early morning sky (I'll include the photo in my stories). I've put a few fun cloud facts but as people have written entire books on clouds I'll stop this here but I'm looking forward to painting some more clouds soon!
I'm catching up on all these wonderful #OurPlanetWeek2026 posts after the weekend! 🌬️🍃🌎 #letsdrawthechange #opw26wind #ourplanetweek (remember to use these hashtags so we can find you)
Here is this year's host Team!
@asiaorlando_@beetleinthehay@caitbrennanillustration@emmalopesart@hello.momo.illu@janinarossiter@juditorosz.artwork@karlasandersart@lamartina.art@megharriet@megliljenquist@raquelrussoo@sarahvonrickenbach@studiolisa@tyymes@zatiff
Forests Growing for Earth Day! The first of our #OurPlanetWeek2026 prompts
Project our forests 💚🌳💚
There is no forest more large or iconic than the Amazon rainforest, we have been hearing about vast areas of this forest being burned or cut for beef, soy & paper for decades now. We have all heard about the extraordinary biodiversity and that it is the lungs of the planet, the nutrients from the Amazon river are also carried out to sea providing nutrients to marine life. However, we also know now that this vital ecosystem may soon reach a tipping point, whereby it releases more carbon than it stores.
Planting new trees in wonderful but so much more powerful is to protect and restore the world's forests & the life they provide homes for.
This painting has taken me 2 or 3 years to create. It began because I was desperate to paint the onça pintada (painted jaguar) 🐆 the apex predator of this region. The whole painting formed around this, growing into a 2 page repeat pattern. I don't even want to guess how long it has taken me to make but I'll share more about this & some details tomorrow. I'm excited to finally share the full and finished piece.
Happy Earth Day! So excited to see all the beautiful tributes to Our Planet 💚🌏🌳 #letsdrawthechange #opw26forests #ourplanetweek (remember to use these hashtags so we can find you)
Here is this year's host Team!
@asiaorlando_@beetleinthehay@caitbrennanillustration@emmalopesart@hello.momo.illu@janinarossiter@juditorosz.artwork@karlasandersart@lamartina.art@megharriet@megliljenquist@raquelrussoo@sarahvonrickenbach@studiolisa@tyymes@zatiff
