Preview: On the Brink

On the Brink is a new 22-piece collection of studio artwork which will be exhibited and auctioned alongside Sketch for Survival this year. 

We are absolutely thrilled to be exhibiting this special collection, featuring both threatened species and at-risk wild spaces from around the world. 

All the artworks in the collection can be viewed in person during our autumn exhibitions.

You can browse and bid for the artworks when our online fundraising auction catalogue opens in October. The online auction concludes Sunday 12 November. Funds raised support our work.

All artworks in the collection will be previewed in installments in the weeks leading up to the exhibitions. If you missed our first preview (published on 17 August, featuring five artworks) please click here.

Fading Spoor: Vanishing Guardian of the Plains, Frank Pretorius

Oil on canvas

100cm x 100cm 

African Cheetah - listed Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.

The Cheetah is such a unique predator because of its vulnerability compared to the other big predators. The Cheetah is extremely dependent on its environment, which is shrinking fast. This also increases direct competition for prey with more successful and stronger predators.

Frank's favourite place is in the studio working on his art or being on an outdoors adventure finding inspiration, preferably somewhere in Africa.  The constant promise of a blank canvas with perpetual possibilities keeps luring him back to labouring on new pieces while learning, experimenting and advancing his craft. 

Above the Petrel Station, Sarah Jane Brown

Oil on Canvas

76cm x 60cm framed

Coastal cliff, and marine (along with sub-maritime grassland, heath and salt marsh).

Inspired by a recent painting trip to the tiny Pembrokeshire island of Skoholm. Designated a SSSI, its delicate ecosystem is both precarious and precious.    Despite being only 260 acres in size, Skokholm houses 15% of the world population of Manx shearwater and 20% of European storm petrels, not to mention many thousands of puffins, razorbills and guillemots, gulls, oystercatchers, skylarks, wheatears and chough. Passage migrants, include chiffchaffs, willow warblers, whitethroats, redstarts and flycatchers.  Atop the ancient red sandstone cliffs you’ll find nationally scarce lichens and unique fungi. Carpets of flowers adorn the sub-maritime grassland, heath and salt marsh habitats.

Sarah Jane Brown is a professional contemporary landscape painter. She lives and works in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Wales, UK. Her rich oil paintings are an intimate expression of the wild, rugged and precious beauty of her surroundings. She exhibits widely and her work is collected internationally.

Contemplation, Sarah Stribbling

Oil on canvas

43cm x 63cm

Giant Panda - listed Vulnerable (VU) on IUCN Red List

For over 50 years the Giant panda has been the poster child for threatened species and most famously the icon for the WWF.  In recent years after great efforts their ICUN status went from Engendered to Vulnerable proving that the integrated approach to conservation is helping to save our planet's vanishing biodiversity. I wanted to do a painting where the viewer was looking directly into the eyes of the animal, allowing us to really connect. Contemplation was the name given to this piece because care and attention still needs to be made and continued in order to restore our planet. 

Sarah is a renowned published conservation artist from the UK, specialising in highly detailed oil paintings and pencil drawings.   Sarah has always been passionate about wildlife and the natural world, obtaining a Bachelors Degree in Zoology and a Masters degree in Biodiversity and Conservation.  To date Sarah has raised over 10,000 for wildlife charities.

In Dreams, Gary Hodges

Limited edition print with over fives hours of hand embellishments by the artist.

51.5 cm x 51.5 cm Framed. Co-signed by Rula Lenska and Virginnia McKenna

African lion(ess) - listed as Vulnerable (VU) on IUCN Red List

I love to draw unusual compositions and often crop my subject matter for the viewer's eye to hone in on a particular area. With In Dreams I cropped tightly to highlight her beautiful paw, the contentment on her face and the various textures, patterns and directions of her fur. In my opinion, this is my best lion drawing (I have drawn at least eight pictures of lions to date).

Gary Hodges is the UK's best selling and most collectable pencil artist. Since 2015, he has embellished almost 300 different limited edition prints for various charities including Explorers Against Extinction. He spends up to 10 hours adding many thousands of new pencil strokes, making each print more dynamic and unique. 

A Changing Rhythm, Maggie Robinson

Acrylic

82cm x 82cm framed

North Yorkshire Coastline

Having grown up near Whitby, the North Yorkshire coastline is an area close to my heart and I was particularly inspired to paint this picture for On the Brink having walked a stretch of the Cleveland Way coastal path last year. It was most concerning to witness the significant deterioration of the path which is set to erode at its fastest rate in thousands of years due to the rising sea levels. Work has already been done further up the coast to replace the old concrete defences but many areas of this beautiful coastline are still in need of preservation.

Maggie is a contemporary landscape artist based in Yorkshire. She is an Associate Member of the Society of Women Artists, a member of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and has regularly exhibited with the Royal Society of British Artists. Her work has sold in the UK, Europe and the USA.