Field sketching in Africa is my life-drawing class, a speed-sketching session in which I have no control over when my subject appears, what it will do or how long it will stay. In contrast, my studio paintings are all about creative control – of subject, composition and color. This is particularly true of my conservation-themed art, in which I take a complex conservation issue and fashion it into a studio painting, donating a large percentage of the sale proceeds to the relevant conservation project.
Sun Spots © Alison Nicholls
Acrylic on Canvas 29 x 29″
In 2007 an Artists For Conservation fellowship grant allowed me to spend 6 weeks with the Painted Dog Conservation project (PDC) in Zimbabwe, tracking & sketching highly endangered African wild dogs. On my own sketching trips I often aim to leave people and villages behind, seeking space to sketch the natural behavior of undisturbed animals, but visiting a conservation project is completely different. They often work closely with local communities, providing education about the natural environment or reducing human-wildlife conflict, and as a result I saw more clearly the difficult issues facing both people & wildlife in Africa today. My exciting artistic experience in Zimbabwe prompted me to contact the African People & Wildlife Fund (APW) in Tanzania, to see and sketch another project in action in a different part of Africa. Shown below are 2 of my conservation-themed paintings based on my visits to PDC and APW.
On the Edge © Alison Nicholls
Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 30”
On The Edge is based on the doctoral thesis of Dr Esther van der Meer and shows African wild dogs leaving Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe, and entering the surrounding buffer zone – a mix of commercial farms, communal areas, trophy hunting & photographic safari areas. The right-hand side of the painting represents the national park while the left-hand side represents the buffer zone. The border of the painting consists of the spoor (tracks) of kudu, impala, lion, hyena, people and vehicles.
The buffer zone contains similar densities of the dogs’ main prey species, impala and kudu, but thicker vegetation than in the national park, resulting in higher hunting success, shorter chases, better fed dogs and larger litters of pups. Lions and hyenas, which may steal kills, or even kill dogs & their pups, are also less common in the buffer zone. On The Edge illustrates this with consistent numbers of impala and kudu tracks throughout, but more lion and hyena tracks inside the national park (right-hand side of painting). Dogs use these ecological clues to decide where to live, but in the buffer zone they unknowingly expose themselves to increased human activity and dogs are snared, shot and run over on the roads at a rate faster than they can reproduce. This is illustrated in On The Edge by the people & vehicle tracks which are only found in the buffer zone (left-hand side of painting).
Fencing the national park to keep dogs inside would restrict the movement of other species, while altering the vegetation density and lion/hyena numbers inside the park to entice dogs to stay there would be a daunting task with ramifications for the entire habitat. One viable conservation option is to make the buffer zone safer for dogs and other species by reducing snares, limiting speed limits on roads and educating people about living with dogs – all of which are areas of focus for the PDC project. 35% of the proceeds from the sale of On The Edge were donated to the PDC project to help make the buffer zone safer for Painted Dogs.
Maize Maze © Alison Nicholls
Acrylic on Canvas, 28 x 28”
Maize Maze shows a Maasai herder and his cattle surrounded by maize, much of it eaten by animals or dying through lack of water. The painting covers a topic discussed by the community of Loibor Siret during a Rangelands Management Seminar at Noloholo, headquarters of the APW in Tanzania. Pastoralists like the Maasai move their livestock seasonally to find better pasture (even though their family and some animals may remain behind at the homestead). Many are finding their seasonal movements restricted by the proliferation of agriculture, which often leads to their livestock overgrazing the areas still remaining to them. In addition, many of the new farms are unproductive, thanks to erratic & unevenly distributed rainfall, and the destruction of unguarded crops by wildlife.
The International Institute for Environment and Development estimates that 40% of Africa’s population lives in drylands, that the traditional livestock sector in Tanzania produces 70% of the country’s milk, and that 50 million livestock producers support their families with livestock fed solely on drylands pastures across East and West Africa. In ‘Modern and Mobile: the Future of Livestock Production in Africa’s Drylands’, IIED points out that pastoralism is vital for millions of people across Africa and could prove even more vital in the future as pastoralists, unlike farmers, can adapt to a changing climate. 30% of the sale proceeds of Maize Maze were donated to the APW in Tanzania.
Image Credits
All Images Are © Alison Nicholls
Alison Nicholls Artist Bio
Alison Nicholls is a member of Artists For Conservation, the Society of Animal Artists, the Explorers Club, the Salmagundi Club and a member of the Creative Board of Pencils For Africa. She lived in Botswana & Zimbabwe for a number of years and returns annually to sketch in the field and lead Sketching Safaris for Africa Geographic Magazine. Her Conservation Sketching Expeditions allow her to work closely with African conservation projects, visit them in the field, learn about their work and sketch on site. On return to the studio she creates a traveling exhibition and lecture series to raise awareness and funds for the conservation project. Alison is English by birth but has traveled widely and currently resides in Port Chester, New York, with her husband Nigel.
Website: www.ArtInspiredbyAfrica.com
Blog: Alison Nicholls: Art Inspired by Africa
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Beautiful, magical and imaginal…how dazzling. Thank you.
Thank you Faye! I’m glad you enjoyed my work. I’m finishing another conservation-themed painting at the moment. In fact I’d better go do that right now!