DSWF WILDLIFE ARTIST OF THE YEAR 2021

This year’s David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation Wildlife Artist of the Year received a record-breaking 2,300 entries from 70 countries. The competition, which began in 2008, raises vital funds (£1.2 million to date) for conservation and creates awareness for biodiversity, helping support wildlife conservation efforts across Africa and Asia. A virtual awards ceremony announced this year’s prize-winning works, with the overall DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year 2021 going to Darren Rees for his painting of Orcas (below), for which he wins £10,000. The Artist’s Editor’s Choice was awarded to Hilary Kington for her woodcut, Curlew in the Estuary (But for How Long?) (below).

To find out more about the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation go to www.davidshepherd.org

Hilary Kington Curlew in the Estuary (But for How Long?), inscribed woodcut, 133133/4in (33335cm). Hilary is a wildlife watcher, painter and printmaker with a passion for salt marshes. Her work was selected by Sally Bulgin, editor of The Artist magazine as her first choice. ‘I love to see this tall elegant and iconic bird striding across the mud flats in the salt marshes,’ she writes. ‘It’s incredibly sad that they are in such serious decline so Hilary’s obvious passion for capturing the curlew in its wild habitat, as encapsulated by this image in particular, truly resonated with me. I love the simplicity of her design, the beautiful, muted colours so typical of the natural environment in which this bird lives, and the inscribed messages highlighting its plight.’

Darren Rees Orcas, Blackfish Sound, acrylic, 28336in (71391cm)